Seaworthy: The Tides Of Darkness
by Nigel Yearning
Summary: An OC Seaworthy family member lost his twin sister and was plunged into a nightmare for where the darkness was out to get him, his only weapon: light. Can he save Snorkland from evil? Plot similar to "Alan Wake." OC POV. Inspired by the game, "Alan Wake."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

My eyes flickered open and they meet the ceiling of my small bedroom, the glare of the bright LED lights hurt my eyes greatly. I had another rough sleep, all because of a local friend's party I went to. Me and my twin sister Berry happened to be invited, and we both got wasted as a result. She sleeps next to me peacefully, still reeking from the drugged reefberries we ate last night. Still feeling goofy from the reefberries, I sat up and looked around the tiny room.

It was a mess, like a bomb exploded or something. Pizza boxes, reefburger wrappings, and large empty bottles of moonshine littered the floor. I hadn't been cleaning my oxygen filled bunker lately, and I know Berry won't clean it either. The reason why I'm living in an oxygen-filled bunker of a home underneath the ocean is because of my electronic equipment, they don't like to get wet you see. The benefits of living in a 100% oxygen filled atmosphere is that I feel more alert and focused, the bad news is that my snork frame has trouble supporting my full weight, since water normally takes up most of the slack.

Speaking of weight, I think I had let myself go again. My waist seemed larger than I had remembered, or its because I am only wearing boxers. So I got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom and into the large octagonal-shaped room, AKA my lab. I approached my digital weight scale and stepped on its small platform and waited for a few seconds, last time it read 28 grams, now it read 37. I don't care about how much I weigh anymore, so I let seeing the results slip out of my mind.

When I stepped off the scale, I walked over to the mirror to see the damage I had done to myself from that party. My eyes seemed fine and my green skin hadn't changed, my body seemed fine but my home was a mess. Trash littered the floor and counter tops, I soon began to think I had the party here.

I snapped sense into myself, it had been this way for 8 months. 8 months since the last time I had made an invention, 8 months since I visited Snorkland. Ah Snorkland, just 40 kilometers to the North of my own region I call "The Outback." The sand here is an orange tan and the waters are green, unique in the oceans of Earth. Some say the landscape was formed by seismic activity, since there's a fault line going through part of the region. Others say that it was caused by human pollution, since radioactive waste barrels were dumped here and so, led to me being born. I personally believed its due to both theories, and I had them backed up quite well.

I'm a scientist, a well respected snork-human hybrid. My human and snork genes came from intelligent families, giving me a brain that makes me the smartest snork alive. I've been having problems lately, I hadn't had an adventure nor an invention in creation in almost a year. Being frustrated and non-talkative isn't normally for me, as I am usually a happy and silly snork. This is damaging my relationship to my sister, who is also having her own strain. All those parties, moonshine, drugged reefberries, and more partying cut us off from Snorkland.

AllStar Seaworthy is my father, how he came to be my parent is due to the human pollution somewhere near Snorkland. He tried to open up one of the barrels but cut his hand by accident, his blood mixed with the radioactive waste and bonded to female human DNA. Then I was formed out of the stuff, and so I was born alone. I don't know when Berry came to be, maybe she was born later or something. All I know is that she claimed she was born in the explosion, the blast knocked her into a corral reef and her skull split it in two. I personally believed it.

Ever since revealing me being his son, AllStar grew a bond to me. I neglected it though, but his end proves strong. I was naïve back then, it took me awhile to accept his family love. I managed to get along with my granduncles, or great uncles, Gallio and Strangesnork. I work with both of them in their experiments, since I even the scales quite well. Governor Wetworth however, I never got along with. Though his son Junior though, I become good friends with.

Thinking back of all the accomplishments I made, I realized how much of a sorry state I was in. I built the snork race's first nuclear reactors and built an industrial complex and rule a de facto economy in The Outback, I've mass-produce video games, HDTVs, and computers, I control one of the largest natural gas reserves in the area, and I rot in my home because I could not come up with something new. Its time to change, I know it.

"Are you staring at yourself in the mirror again brother?" I heard Berry's voice say.

I turned towards the door to my bedroom and saw Berry standing there in a silly smile, wearing only panties. "I was." I told her.

Rex, my green "neuroctopus," came crawling out of the bedroom, slithering through the trash on the floor. "What do you want to do today?" Berry asked.

"I want to go to Snorkland," I told her, "I wanna see AllStar and his friends."

"Its been awhile since we've last seen them," said Berry, "I miss him too, let's get ready."

"Okay," I said, "Lets get dress and head on out."

"Okay, Radio." said Berry.

We both went back to the bedroom and got dressed in our everyday clothes, I wear a white t-shirt with green sleeves and midnight green pants as Berry wore a midnight green t-shirt and same colored pants. With our clothes on, we head out the door as our pet synthetic octopus followed behind us. I opened the air to the airlock and pushed the bulkhead door open, we all stepped into the small room and sealed it up. Berry pressed a button and filled the room with clean sea water from the outside.

As I breathed in the ocean water, I feel my weight easing off my feet. My snork feet were killing me, due to how unique my foot was shaped. Me and Berry's feet looked like duck feet, just like normal snorks, but with 4 toes instead of three. We could spread them out 270 degrees, and use them as suction cups on walls. This stressed our feet more, but special shoes similar to the ones snorks wear helped us a lot.

I soon opened the bulkhead door to the outside and me, Berry, and Rex swam through a cave before swimming outside. The entrance to our secret bunker sealed itself up just after our exit, "Race you, sissy!" I called.

"Oh I'll win this time." said Berry.

Me and Berry made a mad dash towards Snorkland using our powerful snorks, able to propel us at a ridiculous speed. We jetted through corral reefs and ocean plant life, even passing our neighbors. The Feral Snorks living in The Outback are hostile to outsiders, but are friendly to us. During our race, my satellite phone rang and I answered it. "Hey Radio," said Billy Bob Wetworth, my best friend, "How's it going."

"Great Bill," I said.

"Have you come up with a new invention yet?" asked Billy Bob.

"You've been snorking me on for months Billy."

"I know but the workers here want to built something new, please get to it soon or there might be a strike."

"Billy, I'm going to see my father. I haven't seen him in a long time now and I wish you don't call me in the middle of it."

"Oh. Okay Radio, if you need anything, you know where to find me."

"The Seaworthy Nuclear Power Plant, I got it."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye Billy."

I hang up and pocketed the shellphone, "Was that Billy Bob?" asked Berry.

"Yeah," I replied, "He was asking me a few things, I told him I'll get on it soon."

"Okay."

The workers at the industrial complex like to build things, but must be constantly supplied with new schematics in order to keep the assembly lines going. I hadn't came up with one in months, its a surprise that they were still working the same thing over and over again.

Me, Berry, and Rex soon reached Snorkland in little more than half an hour, it hadn't changed since my visit. We swam past the traffic and went to all the usual areas where AllStar and the gang hangs out, they weren't there. So I checked over at his house, they weren't there. And I checked over at Dr. Gallio's place, he was there but not AllStar and his friends. We popped inside and saw Dr. Gallio working on a latest invention, some sort of large orange machine. The sight saddened me, since I hadn't came up with one since last December.

When Dr. Gallio looked up and saw us, he was surprised. "Radio? Berry?" he asked, "Its been a long time since I last see you."

"Hey Gallio," me and Berry said in unison, "Have you seen AllStar?"

"He's at a public gathering at the moment," said Dr. Gallio, "Governor Wellington is there speaking of an emergency."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Snorks are disappearing from left and right," said Dr. Gallio, "Vanishing without a trace. There weren't any Snork-Eater sightings and the usual villains weren't up to anything at the moment, its quite unusual. The Snork Patrol hadn't found a culprit yet, and Snork Police failed even to gather up suspects."

"I'll go check out the public gathering," I said, "I'm sure that the Governor won't mind my presence."

"He still doesn't like you too." warned Dr. Gallio.

"That makes things easier for me," I said, "I'll catch you later Gallio."

"I'll see you later then." said Dr. Gallio, "Say hi to AllStar for me."

"I will." I replied.

Me, Berry, and Rick left Gallio's lab in a heartbeat and head straight for Town Hall, "Well that was quick," said Berry, "What are you planning to do at the public gathering Radio?"

"I have a plan in store for the Governor," I answered, "Just sit tight and watch the show."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

Since I had been to the Town Hall about a gazillion times, I know exactly where it is. Sure enough, a stage was erected and the stereotypical politician himself stood at the podium, yapping his mouth off. Surprisingly, there were a lot of snorks attending this public meeting. I look around for AllStar and his friends and managed to find them in the back with fellow relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Seaworthy and baby SmallStar. They were sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket

Me, Berry, and Rex swam to the back where we made our way to AllStar, then I tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around and see me, a big smile appear of his face. "What's up AllStar?" I asked as I smiled.

"I missed you so much," said AllStar as he hugged me and Berry, "I miss you guys a lot."

"I miss you too AllStar." said Berry.

"Hey its Radio and Berry," said Mr. Seaworthy, "We hadn't seen you in ages, what were you guys doing?"

"Parties," I blurted out, "I got sick and tired from them, literally. I haven't came up with a new invention in months, so I tried this to spend the time having fun."

"He weighed himself this morning," blurted out Berry, "He gained 9 grams."

"Shut up Berry," I laughed, "You gained twice as more."

"That's in my sexy areas." she claimed, "Oh wait, there's children present. Shutting up now."

Berry stepped back as I took over, "So what's happening in Snorkland, AllStar?" I asked.

"Snorks are disappearing," said AllStar, "Nobody knows what happened to them."

"Yeah, Dr. Gallio was talking about it earlier. To come to think of it, I realized that there were snorks disappearing in The Outback."

"There were Radio?"

"Yeah, Billy Bob was talking about it about a month ago. But it was normal for Feral Snorks to go missing, but there had never been so many snorks disappearing all at once."

"Shh!" said a random snork, "Quiet, the governor is speaking."

"Okay, okay." I whispered.

Me and Berry sat down as Rex crawled up to my lap, I pretty much listened to Wetworth speak for the past 20 minutes. "We will find these snorks and reunite them with their families," said Governor Wetworth, "I am saddened by this event, I'll donate some money for the families who lost loved ones."

"I don't like the tone he's using," whispered Berry into my ear, "Its sounds dishonest."

"I'll take care of it for you Berry," I whispered back, then I turned toward's AllStar, "I'll meet up with you at your house tonight AllStar, I have something to take care of."

"Okay, Radio." said AllStar.

Me and Berry got up as Rex swam calmly behind, we left the crowd and got behind a building before we discuss the plan. "We'll drop a stink bomb on his face," said Berry, "It will explode and everybody will laugh their snorks off."

"Good plan," I said, "Let's use the trash bags here for the bomb, what do you want to use as components?"

"We'll use the trash already present," said Berry, "But with a secret ingredient."

"And what will that be?"

"Oh, you'll see. Just hold your snork, this is going to be smelly."

Berry rushed up to a random trash can and pulled her pants down, I just stood there stupefied as I watch her took a huge dump in the can. I tried my best to hold my laugh as Rex can't bare to watch, once she dropped her load she wiped her rear with some tissue paper she carried around with her and tossed it into the can before getting down. After she pulled her pants back up, she tied the bag shut and handed it to me. "Oh that is very gross of you sissy." I cracked as I took the bag.

"Just swim by, drop it in the right place, and get out of there as fast as you can." said Berry, "I'll hang onto Rex as I follow you from behind."

"Okay," I said, "Let's get this sh*t done."

Me and Berry laughed at my idiom, oh those were great times.

With the bag in hand, I swam up as Rex latched himself to Berry as she follows me. I swam up to the rooftop of a building and saw my target at his left, this is going to be fun. "And so," said Governor Wetworth as he wraps up his speech, "I will put all of my effort to make sure that all snorks will be found and returned to their loved ones without harm."

His mouth was open, perfect. Moving faster than my eye can see, I shot out through the water and swam overhead. Then I drop the bag and swam off, the bag hit its mark with perfect accuracy. Seeing all that trash and Berry's load spill all over the place was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen at that point, everyone was laughing their snorks off as predicted. Me and Berry laughed so hard that it caught Governor Wetworth's attention, and boy was he pissed.

"I'll get you Seaworthy Twins!" he hollered as he waves his fist at us, "I'll tear you limb from limb Sealin Snorkfin and Sandy Curie!"

"Did he just call you Sealin Snorkfin?" asked Berry.

"He called you Sherry Curie," I said, "I think they're famous snork scientists."

Indeed they were, very popular ones too. I don't know what got him so interested in science, but he seemed well informed about the subject. Me, Berry, and Rex hang outside Snorkland for hours, waiting for nightfall. Snorkland was filled with a lot of police activity, maybe they were after us. Soon the night had fall, and we head to AllStar's house to see what he's up to. Sure enough, when we arrived at his house he was inside watching TV with his friends.

I opened the front door and stepped through, "Hey guys." I called out.

"Hey, its Radio." said Casey, "Hey Berry!"

"Hi." said Berry.

"I have to ask," said AllStar, "Why did you drop a stink bomb on the Governor?"

"I don't know." I said as I let out a smile.

"The police are after you," said AllStar, "You really kicked the Snork-Eater's nest this time."

"I'll lay low for now then," I said, "Its getting late, I gotta go now."

"But you've just got here." said Dimmy.

"I know." said Radio.

"Oh don't leave you guys." pleaded Daffney.

"Toot toot." pleaded Tooter.

"I'll see you guys later," I said, "Bye."

"Bye." said the gang.

After me, Berry, and Rex left, we head off south back home. Just as we reached the edge of Snorkland, Berry began to talk. "When are you going to make a new invention?" asked Berry.

"I don't know." I said.

"You're going to make one soon?" asked Berry.

"Maybe."

"When?"

"I don't know."

"Will you do it tomorrow?"

"Why are you so persistent?"

"What?"

I stopped and Berry noticed I halt, we float there in the water as we argue. "Why are you edging me onto this Berry?" I asked, "I mean, why?"

"I'm trying to help you." said Berry.

"You don't have to be this intrusive, I'm already frustrated enough as it is."

"But?"

"Berry!"

"Uhh?"

Angered by her persistence, I swam off and left her and Rex there. I soon swam behind a rock and just sat down, I just need time to think. I never yelled at her like that before, now I felt guilty about myself. So I decide to wrap things up and call it a day, but just before I was able to get around the corner I heard her scream. Her scream, made my blood froze in place.

"Radio!" I heard her cry, "Help!"

"Berry!" I cried, "Don't worry, I'm coming!"

I heard Rex yelping when I came around the corner, and noticed he and Berry not there. I looked around drastically and saw a large dark puddle of tar nearby, I approached it and thought I saw Berry's outline in it. "Oh no!" I cried. Without thinking twice, I dove straight into the black puddle and that was the last think I remembered at that night.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

When I came to, I found myself behind the wheel of a crash car in the middle of the night. I had no idea how I got there, all I knew was something bad happened to Berry. I saw my own blood on the edge of the steering wheel, and felt it run down my cheek. I was injured, but its only minor. I managed to get the car door open and unbuckled my seat belt before climbing out. I stumble into the sand and collapse, then I examined it closely.

The sand is an orange tan, not white, it an only mean one thing. I am somehow back at The Outback, but I am within luck. I am at the curve of a major road system, I could find someone to help me here. If I can't, the road will take me directly to Snorkland. Just as I get back up onto my feet, I heard the car shift. I turned around and saw the automobile plunge down a cliff, and exploded. It must be a nuclear-powered automobile, cause steam-powered cars don't explode.

Still dazed from the crash, I began my trip down the asphalt highway. I just walked, I didn't have the energy to use my snork to swim. I kept going down the dark highway, hoping to be found. After walking about half a kilometer, I stumble upon a major roadblock. An overturned freight truck blocks my path, I have to find my way around somehow.

With a cliff at one side and a major hillside at the other, I chose the high ground. I made my way up the hillside and managed to find some signs of snork activity, then I thought I saw the outline of a snork. "Hello?" I called out, "Please, I need help. I've been in an accident!"

No one responded, I continue up to the top of the hillside and saw that there was no one there. I looked down and saw some sort of rest area for truckers, I decided to go check it out. I climbed down the hillside and managed to find my way through a break in a chain linked fence, I looked around and saw that there was no one here despite the lights were on inside the rest area. I try to make my way to the building through the maze of cars and trucks, then I suddenly began to hear a voice of a snork.

"What do you call a SNORK when he goes trucking?" I heard the voice say, "SNORKING!"

That sounded like Dimmy, but part of the voice sounded demonic and partially distorted. "Hello?" I called out, "I need help, I've been in an accident."

"It takes a CHEF, with expert SKILLS, to cook a PERFECT CAKE!" I heard the voice again.

I came around the corner of a truck and saw the snork in question, he looked like Dimmy. "Please sir," I said, "I need help, do you have a phone... oh hell."

There lay a dead body of a snork as the orange snork pulled an ax out of the body, "Dimmy Finster," he said, "Pleased to meet you."

It's Dimmy, or was Dimmy, but something was wrong with him. Shadows clung to his body, distorting whatever light was reflecting off of him. Its hard to even look directly at him, as he appeared to be an illusion trying to escape sight. Before I could say anything else, Dimmy jumped up high and onto a truck, causing me to be spooked. "Wanna hear a JOKE?" he said, "They are... pretty funny."

Frightened, I continued my way through the maze. I couldn't tell where Dimmy was, but all I know is that safety resides in the building. I didn't know it right away, my instinct was telling me to do so. I made my way through the maze and found myself just a stone's throw away from the rest area building, that's when Dimmy tried to chop me with his ax. I managed to dodge it as he smashed the pavement instead, my eyes meet his for a fraction of a second. Dimmy's eyes were dark, but his pupils were bright red.

"Don't call me Demetrius," said Dimmy as he chased me, "I don't like to be called THAT!"

I ran into the building and shut the door behind me, Dimmy plunge the ax head through the door as I get to the side of the door. After he removed it, I quickly looked around the room for a weapon. The building was well-lit with LEDs, it felt safe for some reason. Over at the Help Desk, I saw what appeared to be a small .7mm handgun and a flashlight. I ran up and grabbed the gun and the flashlight, the flashlight will help me make my way through the night due to the pitch-black darkness obstructing my vision.

"In Snorkland," Dimmy blabbers, "Humor can touch the heart of all snorks, so LAUGH OUT LOUD! What do you call a snork when he is on top of a roof wearing red? SANTA SNORK!"

It sounded like he was climbing over the roof, I had the thought that he'll chop his way through the roof and drop right into the building. But he didn't, and he was soon gone at a moment's notice. Once he's out of the area, I rushed up to a phone and tried to call the police at the nearby pay phone. "Come on!" I hoped as I dial in the number, and I soon got through, "Yes!"

"Snorkland Police Department," I heard a voice say, "How may I-"

Suddenly the phone connection was cut off and the lights in the building went dark, "Hello?" I called out, "Hello!"

That's when something violently shook the structure of the building, causing me to stumble. I quickly grab some handgun ammo before running out of the building, I looked back and saw the building implode. "Whoa." I said as I pocketed the ammunition, "Close call."

Just as I was about to leave, several snorks with shrouds of darkness covering them came out of nowhere. There were more of them, and they were yelling gibberish. They appeared to be truckers and feral snorks, and all of them had axes. They were coming after me, I tried to shoot one of them only to realize that I can't harm them. They took the rounds like nothing, and continued their advance. I aimed my flashlight at them, then something interesting happened.

When in direct contact of light, mad static and sparks fly off of their bodies as a sound of a circular saw rings through the air. Within a flash, I managed to removed one of their dark shrouds. I fired at that attacker, and I noticed I was harming him. When I killed him, his body vanished without a trace. I continued the same tactic at the others as I carefully dodged their throwing knives and wrenches, and soon managed to kill some of them.

Startled from what I had just done, I ran out of the rest area and managed to make my way back onto the road. I managed to get around the roadblock, and I was able to see the lights of Snorkland at the horizon. It will take me a long to get to Snorkland on foot, and for that I need a ride. I managed to see an automobile with its internal lights on, I rushed to it and opened the door. Surprisingly, I found it unlock, as if someone had left it there for me to use.

I got into the car and start it up, when the headlights came on I saw several snorks with shadow armor and axes walking towards me. The headlights managed to remove their protective armor, so I floored it. I ran over several of the snorks, their bodies vanished in thin air as I drove down the road as fast as I can. I watched my speed, careful not to crash the car like the last one.

The car helped me cover a large amount of distance, and Snorkland was ever closer than before. After just 10 minutes, I came across another roadblock. So I got out and head off into the nearby kelp forest, as I do so I stumble upon several more snorks with darkness in their eyes. They appear to be dressed like hunters, maybe they were. "It's fishing season." one of them blurted out.

I fought the hunters as they tried to make their way towards me, flashes of light stripped of their armor and I easily gunned them down. Once I took out all the snorks, my flashlight caught glimpse of light-sensitive green paint markings on a nearby wall. It was an arrow pointing to the right, the arrow led me to a small cave where I found a 4 pointed star painted on the back wall. The star looked exactly like AllStar's belt buckle, it seemed eerie. Underneath it was a chest, I opened it and saw that it contained a flare gun and some flare gun ammo. This probably was the best weapon to fight the creatures with, so I grabbed the flare gun and loaded it before leaving.

Outside, my flashlight revealed a small message on the nearby boulder, also written in light-sensitive paint. It reads, "The Dark Presence controls the Taken."

"Taken," I said, "They're Taken."

Taken, so that's what those things I've been fighting were called, and this Dark Presence? I don't know what to make of this discovery, but my flashlight soon revealed another message on a stone wall, "In the light, you can hurt them."

"Thank you for whoever wrote these eerie messages." I said to myself, expecting no response.

I continued on my way towards Snorkland, now with a better understanding on what I am facing. "A snorking we would go," I heard Dimmy blurted out, "What do you call a snork awhile in the middle of a wooded area? Robin Snork!"

Dimmy was still out there stalking me, I gotta reach civilization fast. Just as I reach a clearing, a school of fish came swarming in and charged at me. I aimed the flashlight at the school and it exploded, fishes were bursting into static and disappearing. I couldn't hear my scream above theirs. They were quick to leave as they swam off into the distance, and so I continued my way towards Snorkland.

It was there were I saw something unusual, a couple of orange casings. I approached them and discovered that they're DVD disks, the ones bought in computer stores. I picked both them up and looked at the covers, they were numbered and both had their own titles, the first one was "Radio Attacked By Taken" and the other was "Dimmy Taken." They were unusual, someone or something knows about me. I pocketed the DVDs, I plan to view them later once I reach safety.

Just as I approach the edge of Snorkland, more Taken showed up out of nowhere and Dimmy revealed himself. "Wanna play Snorkball?" he said as he gets on top of a large rock.

I fired the flare gun at the Taken, the flare shot straight across the area and explodes, kill all Taken in the area. But Dimmy survived, but this time I get to fight him. Dimmy came around the corner going ridiculously fast, so fast that his outline blurs in his trail. It was difficult to train my flashlight on him, but I managed to get him pinned to a corner and focused the beam of light directly onto him. "Knock knock," he said, "Who's there? Kelp. Kelp who? KELPCICLE!"

When his protective darkness was removed, he stopped talking and stopped running. He just marched straight at me with his ax, I shined my flashlight into his eyes and he tries to shield them with his arm. He groaned in the process, the groan sounded like a Snork-Eater or some other monster. I proceed to gun him down, and after a few rounds I killed him.

His body vanished, leaving behind many nightmares to come. Assuming I managed to make it to Snorkland in time. I quickly swam into the utopia and was greeted by comforting lights, I ditched the handgun and flare gun before I managed to find my way to a Police Station. I simply burst in and collapsed onto the floor, a police officer working on the nightshift saw me.

Turns out, the police officer happened to be Corky. Under his trust, I feel safe when he came to my aid.

"Oh my starfish," he said as he helped me up, "What happened?"

"Help Corky," I said, "Its me, Radio Seaworthy. I have been in a car accident."

"Radio?" he asked, "Have you seen Dimmy, AllStar's friend? He went missing the other night."

"No." I lied.

I couldn't tell him what happened that night, he'll think I'm insane and send me to an asylum. Clearly I was injured and I was too weak to get up, and so Corky called a doctor. He helped me up and took me to a bedroom where he rested me on a bed. I pretty much stayed there for the night, and I slept underneath the glow of a lightbulb.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

Dr. Gallio came into the police station right after he heard of my ordeal, Corky told him about my state saying that something spook me. When I woke up, Dr. Gallio was there. He examined me from head to toe, and checked the cut in my head. Discovering that its only minor, he simply placed a gauze bandage over it. "Everything seemed normal," said Dr. Gallio, then he shined a light in my eyes.

"I think that light is a bit powerful." I said as I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Interestingly," said Dr. Gallio, "There are others that came to me saying they can't stand the light."

"Others?" I asked.

"Ever since the disappearances started, I began getting a steady stream of snorks complaining of light sensitivity and memory blackouts. Some were even muttering random quotes about their professions, as if they were lost in a state of confusion. I don't know what to make of it."

"Thanks for the help, I see why you're AllStar's family favorite."

"Your welcome Radio. Speaking of AllStar, he is taking care of Rex. You should go over to his place and pick him up."

"I'll probably stay there for the time being, I am in no condition to go home."

"Oh Radio, check up with Corky before you leave."

"Okay."

I got up from the bed and head to Corky's office in the next room, there I saw Corky with this interesting character. He had light-blue skin that matches his police uniform, he had a well trimmed mustache and some hair on his head. When I approach, the snork glanced at me suspiciously.

"Radio," said Corky, "This is Chief Robinson, the Chief of Police of the Snorkland Police Department."

"Its a pleasure to meet you Radio Seaworthy." said Robinson.

"Nice to see you too," I said, "I think I've heard of you before, you took over the last chief just a few months ago?"

"Indeed I have, now can you tell me what happened to you last night?"

"Me and Berry were heading home, suddenly we had an argument because she wanted me to come up with a new invention. Frustrated, I left her in the dark as I went around a corner to think. Suddenly she screamed and I quickly swam back to her, only to find her gone. I thought I saw her in this huge puddle of tar, sinking into the bottom. So I went in after her, then all of a sudden I found myself behind the wheel of a crashed car."

"Your story is full of holes," said Chief Robinson, "Is there anything else?"

"I lost track of time," I said, "What day is it?"

"Its Monday on the second week."

"Second week?"

"What's the matter?"

"I thought it was the first Monday, oh crap I'm missing a week."

"Well that explains one of the holes in your story." said Chief Robinson.

Suddenly my phone rang, I got it out to examine the collar ID. It said, "Unknown Caller."

"I gotta take this," I said, "You mind?"

"Not at all." said Chief Robinson.

I stepped out of the room and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Okay Seaworthy listen up." I heard a mad voice say, "You're going to do exactly what I say, don't go to the police or you'll never see your sister again."

"What?" I asked, "What do you want?"

"Tonight, I'll be waiting for you at the edge of Snorkland." said the kidnapper, "Meet me at the large sea shell at midnight, and come alone. Just to make sure you don't try anything stupid, I left a little something for you at the back of the Police Station. Its behind the dumpster, I managed to put it there just before you arrived. Remember, I'm watching you."

He hanged up, I turned off the phone and walked back to the room where Corky and Chief Robinson were waiting. "Can I ask what the call was about?" asked Chief Robinson.

"A worker of mine asking for a raise back in The Outback," I said, "Same guy every week."

"Your Nuclear Power Plant seemed to be revolutionary," said Chief Robinson, "Its easy to understand why."

"May I step out to get some fresh air?" I asked, "All of this, is too much to take in."

"Sure Radio." said Chief Robinson.

I stepped out of the room again and head towards the main room where a help desk lady with pink skin was there, "You seemed to be handling everything okay Seaworthy?" she asked.

"Yes mam," I said, "Robinson said I could step outside for a moment."

"Down the corridor," she said, "Pass the cells, don't mind the regulars in there."

I head down the corridor and noticed another disk on the floor, I picked it up and tucked it into my pocket before opening the door to the cells. Inside was a tan snork, who looked like he had a rough night of his own. "Hey mister," he said, "Can you please turn on the lights, its a bit dark in here."

Indeed, it was quite dark. The light coming from the windows aren't enough to well-light the room, so I flipped a switch near the door and the lights flashed on. "Thanks mister," said the snork, "You're a good snork, don't let anyone tell you different. I know I'm stuck behind bars, they got locked up for beating the snork out of another snork. I'll tell you, it wasn't a snork anymore. It looked like a snork but there was something wrong with his eyes, totally wrong with his eyes."

I said nothing and left him be as I opened the door to the outside and stepped out into the parking lot of the police station, the sun hurt my eyes greatly which is something I really need. I looked around and spot the dumpster the kidnapper has said, I managed to look behind it and saw what he left behind. It was a picture of Berry, the kidnapper met business.

As I picked up the photo, my phone rang again and I answered it. "Radio," I heard Billy Bob's voice on the phone, "I've been trying to get a hold of you for a week, what happened?"

"Billy Bob, come get me at the Snorkland Police Station." I said, "I'll explain everything later."

"Don't worry," said Billy Bob, "I'm already in Snorkland and I know where the police station is, I'll come get you okay."

I hanged up and head back inside, pocketing the phone and photo in the process. Once I head to the main room, I saw Corky and Chief Robinson there waiting for me. "Is it okay for me to leave?" I asked.

"We still need to know more about the disappearance of your sister," said Chief Robinson, "But I'm sure its okay for you to leave, you gotta ride?"

"Yeah, its' just about..."

Billy Bob barged into the station right on cue. He's an orange snork with 3 snorks, positioned like the petals of a flower. His body is covered in a light coat of spots, like all the other feral snorks. He usually wears a pair of brown pants, which is well worn. Even though he's half naked, he wears a backpack which seemed to help his appearance a lot. "Here." I finished.

"Names Billy Bob Wetworth," said Billy Bob as he held out his hand to Chief Robinson, "And yes, I'm related to the Governor."

"Billy Bob," said Chief Robinson as he shook Billy Bob's hand, "The last I remember you were arrested for burglary and vandalism."

"Radio paid my bail," said Billy Bob, "And I even signed up for the Outback Program, just to clear the rest of the charges."

"Can we go now Billy?" I asked.

"Oh, of course." said Billy Bob, "I'll see you snorks later, your house is my house."

"Yeah, we don't do that joke around here anymore." said Chief Robinson.

Me and Billy Bob left the station, and now I have some business to take care of.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

I had to tell somebody about what happened last night, so I told Billy Bob everything on our drive to AllStar's house. He thought I was crazy, gone mad by Berry's disappearance. "You're going to confront the kidnapper on your own?" he asked, "I don't like one bit of this Radio, not one bit."

"I don't either," said Radio, "But I with the Dark Presence after me, I have to do something."

"So you ran around with a gun at night?" he asked again, "And you said that the snorks were bulletproof until you shined a flashlight on them, this is the kind of stuff feral snorks get put in padded cells for. I've been to an asylum myself, it was not pretty. They fed me 3 pills a day and they used gruesome shock treatments on my head, as your best friend I am concerned about your condition at the moment."

"Billy! Berry is missing, I am missing a week, if you think that's unbearable alone, its not!"

"I don't know what to make of this Radio. You need to sit down and rest, when's the last time you ate?"

"Now you've mentioned it, I can't remember. I'm getting pretty hungry right now."

"See, you gotta rest and take it easy, collect your thoughts before moving on."

By the time we arrived at AllStar's house, Rex was sitting in the yard waiting for me. Billy Bob parked the car and we both got out, "I'm just saying Radio," he said, "You've hit your head, you need to relax or you'll wound up in the asylum. This is just what happened to many feral snorks who praise you as your hero, if you go there won't be any hope left."

"I'm gonna need insurance then," I said, "Find a successor to my position, maybe get a real home for once."

Rex quickly swam up to me and knocked me to the ground before licking my face, "Easy boy," I said, "This is not a time to be celebrating, Berry has disappeared."

The neuroctopus' expression changed from happy to worried in a millisecond, he quietly gets off and me and Billy Bob approaches the front door. "You wanna get AllStar involved?" asked Billy Bob.

"Not yet," I said, "Don't tell him about the Dark Presence and all that other sh#t, just say Berry is missing and I had been in a car accident. Give them no other information whatsoever about anything else, do you understand."

"I understand," said Billy Bob, "Its nice to hear your voice being rational finally."

I rang the door bell and Mrs. Seaworthy opened the door, "Radio," she cried, "Billy Bob?"

"Hi Mrs. Seaworthy." said Billy Bob.

"Hi grandma." I said nonchalantly.

"What happened to you Radio?" I asked, "You hurt yourself?"

"Yes," I replied, "But Gallio fixed most of it, though the emotional damage is still sore."

"What happened?" she asked.

"Berry is missing, and I'm missing a week of memory."

"Poor thing," said Mrs. Seaworthy, "Come inside quick, you looked starved."

Me and Billy Bob stepped inside as Rex remains outside, I sat down on the couch as Billy Bob went to the restroom. "The last time we saw each other, Berry said I gained 9 grams." I said as Mrs. Seaworthy came back with a sandwich, "I think I lost the weight, plus with more."

"I can tell," said Mrs. Seaworthy, "Your cheeks are sunken in a little, you were so cute with baby fat on."

"Those were happier times," I sighed, "Happier times."

Mrs. Seaworthy handed me the sandwich, I was reluctant to devour it. "Did you report Berry's disappearance?" asked Mrs. Seaworthy.

"I did," I said, making sure I didn't talk with my mouth full, "I certainly did, then Billy Bob picked me up and took me here. When will AllStar get home?"

"He'll get home around 5." said Mrs. Seaworthy.

"I'll wait for him then," I said, "I have all the time in the world."

I simply kicked back and relaxed on the couch, I napped for about an hour before Billy Bob came into the room with SmallStar in his hands. "Radio," he said as he sat SmallStar, "Baby alert."

I woke up to find SmallStar looking at my eyes, "Are you dead?" she asked me with a silly smile.

"No." I bluntly say.

I picked her up and sat her on the floor before turning onto my belly, I tried to sleep again but Billy Bob seemed reluctant. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Shut up." I muttered.

"I'll take that as a no."

He went quiet as I managed to finally sleep, I snoozed off many hours before I woke up to find someone is waking me. "Radio?" I heard AllStar's voice say.

I shot up and saw AllStar right before me, "Oh thank god," I said, "I've been waiting for you."

"I heard what happened from Uncle Gallio," said AllStar as he sat down on the other sofa, "Are you okay?"

"No," I said, "You have no idea what last night was like."

"What's it like?" asked AllStar.

"Total darkness," I said, "So frightening that it's more scarier than ghost stories."

"Oh um, Radio?" said AllStar, "I have to tell you something."

"What is it AllStar?" I asked.

"Dimmy is missing," said AllStar, "His parents are devastated."

The news brought back the memory of the ax head coming through the wooden door back at the rest area, the thought of the flashback made me shiver. "Berry is missing as well," I blurted out, "My grief is easily comparable to Dimmy's parents."

"I never thought much about the disappearances," said AllStar, "Until now, I wonder what's going on."

"I found out something about the disappearances." I said at random.

"You have?"

"You see, the disappearances, all of them, takes place at night. Just to be safe, sleep with the lights on tonight. Okay?"

"I will Radio," said AllStar, "I think I'll have Occy sleep inside tonight."

Billy Bob soon showed up and approach the steam-powered radiator and turned it on, "Its getting cold," he said, "I'll just, sit at the corner, mining my own business."

Me and AllStar sat there talking for a long time, it was comforting to be in his presence. I feel safe with him, I knew all the crap he had been through. But at lease things have calmed down, when I looked outside I noticed it was night. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Its about 9 PM," said AllStar, "About time for me to go to bed."

"I have to take care of something by the way," I said as I got up from the couch, "And I must do it alone."

"Where you going?" asked AllStar.

"An important meeting," I said as I pulled out the flashlight I got from the rest area, "The deadline is midnight, I cannot afford to miss it."

"What is it about?" asked AllStar.

"Its personal," I said, "I'll be right back after the meeting, just stay home and keep the lights on."

"You seemed worried about something, what is it Radio?"

"Whatever is causing the disappearances might be after you," I said, "Maybe even me, just don't worry AllStar because I can handle it."

I turned the flashlight on, its glow was bright as I last flicked it on. I walked over to the front door and opened it, "If you hear or see anything suspicious," I said, "Call me, okay."

"I will Radio." said AllStar.

"Oh Radio," said Billy Bob who was over at the corner, "Awhile you're out, find some more flashlights. Will yeah?"

"I'll find as many as I could get my hands on." I promised.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

I stepped outside and held my flashlight steady, its going to me now or never. The kidnapper said to meet him by the large sea shell, maybe its the same sea shell that Tooter tried to live in when he ran away from home. I saw Occy sleep in his octopus house quite calmly, I walked up to his house and looked inside. There he was, sleeping in his bed. I shined my flashlight inside the house, the bright light caused Occy to stir before he woke up.

"Occy?" I asked, "You gotta go inside, AllStar said you must sleep with him tonight."

Occy muttered coos and nods, as if he's agreeing with me. I stepped back and watched as he made his way to the front door and opened it, once he swam inside he shut the door behind him and turned the outdoor lights on. With Occy safe, I head off into giant sea shell.

I swam down the deserted roads, the public lights glistened nicely with full brightness. To me, light began to feel like a trusted friend. As I thought about this, I keep finding more disks in my path. I picked up the DVD disks and pocket them, that's when I found more light-sensitive graffiti. I followed the arrows towards the back alley where I found another 4 pointed star, and underneath it was a cache full of supplies

I opened up the chest and find a backpack, I grabbed the backpack and filled it with the DVDs. I now had 10 DVD CDs, and they're safely stored in a backpack. I searched the chest some more and found a flare gun, and lots of flare gun ammo. Already just a few meters and I had found a weapon to fight the Taken, assuming I will encounter them tonight. So I grabbed the flare gun and loaded it, then I grabbed 10 flare gun ammo and stuffed them into the backpack.

I thought what I was going to call these caches. Since there was a 4 pointed star painted by them, I'll guess I call them "star caches."

Putting the backpack on, I picked my flashlight up and continued on. Even though I now have a weapon, the ammo for the flare gun is scarce. I need to conserve it, and so I must search for conventional weapons. As I continued on, I began to wonder if the Taken will show itself. Maybe not here, since there are too many light sources around for them to spawn.

When I left the neighborhood, I made my way to the edge of Snorkland and looked around for the sea shell. I couldn't find it in the pitch blackness, the lights from Snorkland hindered my night vision. I sensed movement in the darkness, but I had no choice if I want to see Berry again. So I took a deep breath, and wing it.

I swam out of Snorkland and left its lights of safety, now I am in the Great Beyond, the area outside of Snorkland. If you were heading south, you'll find yourself in The Outback. Unfortunately, I lost my way in the dark. Looking for a giant sea shell in the middle of the night was easier said than done, and soon I lost my sense of direction and was now completely lost.

Frustrated, I tried to retrace my steps when my flashlight revealed more of the green arrows. I followed the arrows and discovered a castle resting on what appears to be the back of a giant sea turtle, I recognized it as Dr. Strangesnork's lab. He owes me a few favors, maybe he'll help me. So I swam right up to his base, but just as I near the ocean floor began to shake and the lights inside Dr. Strangesnork's lab went dark. I heard him scream, the Dark Presence had attacked him.

"Strangesnork!" I called out, "Hang on, I'm coming!"

"HELP!" I heard him cry, "FINNEUS!"

I noticed a dark cloud suddenly disappearing as I approached the entrance, when I swam inside I saw a trail of blood leading to Dr. Strangesnork. He laid on the floor behind a wall splattered with his own blood, Dr. Strangesnork looks gravely injured and there wasn't much I could do for him. "Radio?" he asked as I approach.

"Strangesnork, its me." I said as I examined his wounds, "God o` mighty."

"It attacked me," he wheezed, "Just the way it was depicted in that compact disk. Its going to come back for me, you gotta turn the lights on."

"Where's the circuit breaker?" I asked.

"In the back," said Dr. Strangesnork, "Right near the front door, hurry Radio. So dark... In the light, you can hurt them. In the light, you can hurt them."

Dr. Strangesnork somehow found one of the disks, he kept it to himself until it actually happened. As he repeated the light quote, I head to the front door and attempt to locate the breaker box. I walked down a small corridor and opened the door to a small utility closet, inside was a Heavy-Duty flashlight, even better than the one I had with me. I grabbed the Heavy-Duty one and turned it on, it glowed quite brightly. So I turned off the regular one and placed it in my backpack, I kept searching and found a 1mm pistol inside.

There's even ammo, so I grabbed it all and continued my search for the circuit breakers. I opened another door and found the breaker box, only to discover an ax lodged into it. Someone had destroyed the breaker box, now I'll never get the lights on.

I felt the ground shake once more and heard something crash behind me, followed my Dr. Strangesnork's screams. "Strangesnork!" I called out.

I head back into the main room and stumble into a couple of Taken, "Fishing requires a fishing license!" one of them blurted out.

I shined my flashlight at them in an effort to hold them back, their dark shrouds soon vanished and I gun them down. Their bodies vanished, then I move on to investigate what had happened. I found a large Snork-Eater size hole in the wall, I walked through it and discovered a dead Finneus at the edge of the hole. "E=mc^2." I heard Dr. Strangesnork say, his voice sounded a bit distorted.

I looked around and saw no one there, just a large empty space Strangesnork hadn't used for his lab. As I stepped to the center, Strangesnork revealed himself. "Gallio stole my IDEAS!" he said as he jumped off the roof of his lab, armed with an ax. His eyes were dark and a shroud protected him, Dr. Strangesnork was a Taken.

"Strangesnork," I cried, "Strangesnork no!"

He began to run around in break-neck speed, just what Dimmy had done before I killed him. "Energy cannot be CREATED nor DESTROYED!" he blabbers as he ran around the place, "Energy can only be TRANSFORMED, and can only be CONVERTED into mass or another form of ENERGY! One of THESE days, I'll get my REVENGE on my brother GALLIO and my nephew ALLSTAR!"

I managed to focus the beam of light on him long enough for me to strip off most of his darkness, just as he quickly sped towards me and try to strike me with his ax. I managed to dodge it quickly, all he hit was the large turtle shell. "Appropriate safety is REQUIRED, before performing any CHEMICAL EXPERIMENTS! Never... breath in contaminated water, it is HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!"

"SNORKLAND WILL feel my POWER, everything WILL BE MINE!"

After I brushed the beam of light at Strangesnork, his dark shroud flashes off and he stopped running. I soon gun him down, and he burst into static before disappearing. "There's nothing more I could do here, I must head towards the giant sea shell and meet the kidnapper.

Just as I walked back inside the lab, I saw more Taken spawning near the front door. They blurted out gibberish before they tried to throw knives at me, I manged to dodge them before I shot them with my flare gun. The flash of green light killed them instantly, and their bodies vaporize. I spot the DVD case that Strangesnork found, I grabbed it checked for the DVD. Its in there alright, so I stuffed it into my backback. Not wanting to spend another moment here, I left Dr. Strangesnork's lab for good.

As I continue on towards my destination, my satellite phone started to ring. It was Billy Bob, and so I answered it. "AllStar's asleep," he said in a state of shock, "I just saw something outside, I thought I saw something. It looked very shadowy, I couldn't even focus on it."

"Don't worry Billy Bob," I said sarcastically, "Its just my imagination."

"Oh you're not insane, I wish you were crazy but you're not. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will Billy Bob, just keep the lights on."

"Yes of course, the lights."

I hanged up the phone as I approached a cable car, it seemed to be ready for use. So I stepped in and started it up, slowly it trails down its cable over a mammoth-size canyon. The canyon looked like it has been carved out by an ancient river when this part of the ocean was above sea level, a beautiful place to have a nightmare. Just half-way down, I heard a squawk and I looked up to see a school of fish coming straight at me.

The school slammed itself into the cables like a kamikaze, disabling it. Since I'm going down hill, gravity made the cable cart continue the rest of the way – rediculously fast. I hang on as the cart crashes into the edge of the cliff, I was flung outward and I slammed face first onto the ground. As I try to get up, I saw the Taken approach. My flashlight was just a few centimeters away from me, I try to make a mad grab for it but a Taken blocked my way. I thought I was going to die when they raise their axes, but a flash of light suddenly killed them all.

After they were killed I saw a snork approaching me, holding a lit flare stick. He had peach colored skin and was wearing brown clothing, maybe hunter clothing. The snork tossed aside the flare and lend out his hand, I took it and he helped me up. "That was a close call." he said like a brute.

I quickly picked up my flashlight, thank god it still works. When the snork saw the flashlight, he didn't seem pleased, "Snorkling's toy," he said rudely as he handed me some flares, "Here, the flares will hold the Taken off."

He knew what I was facing, incredible. "You can see them too?" I asked.

"Of course I can see them," he barked, "Just follow me to the giant sea shell, and I can prove to you you're not alone."

I remember seeing him at Wetworth's public speaking back in Snorkland, this was not a coincidence, he was the kidnapper. I will follow him, and ask my questions later. "I lost my gun back at the cable cart." I said.

"Oh I have a gun," he said, "Just keep that flashlight steady on them as I shoot them."

"Okay then," I said, "I'll use this flare gun as an alternative."

We both made our way towards the giant sea shell, encountering many Taken along the way. I aim the flashlight at them and once their dark shroud was stripped off, the kidnapper guns them down. I didn't trust him, I assumed during that entire time that he'll suddenly turn towards me and shoot me in the gut. He won't do that, not yet. The kidnapper still needs me, he wants something from me and I have not much to give him.

He's not the scientific type, he doesn't look to intelligent. Even though he had a lot of common sense, he wasn't that smart. I could tell by the look in his eyes, he feels insecure. The kidnapper must be an ex-con or had a bad childhood due to his asshole attitude, I concluded he must be working for someone, but I don't have any evidence to support it at the time.

When we reached the giant sea shell, it looks definitely the one that Tooter encountered. "What do we do now?" I asked.

"We hold them back as long as they keep coming." said the kidnapper.

"Sounds like a dramatic final stand." I said, just as the water currents began to pick up and the shadows began to move.

"Well do you see an outdoor lamp?" he asked, "I don't see a lamp anywhere, so shut up and hold them back."

Just as the shadows start moving at its max, the Taken began to appear out of the darkness. "Watch out for Snork-Eaters." one of them blurted out.

"Hold them back!" he yelled, "Use the flares!"

I pulled out a flare and set it off, it glowed with a bright green light. I was surprise how easy it was for it to burn underwater, the thermite in the flare must have a reserve of oxygen inside. It was so bright that the Taken were repelled by it, their darkness armor being chewed up in the process. Just as a few Taken loose their protection, the kidnapper fired away at them and killed them easily.

There were waves upon waves of Taken, all the waves however were small. To come to think of it, the Taken must be the snorks that were disappearing. If this is true, then Snorkland is in grave danger worse than any conventional villain that had ever existed. With this in mind, I took out the flare gun and fired a round straight at a concentration of Taken. The blast of light was inspiring, it destroyed all the Taken with one single shot.

We waited for about a minute, there were no more Taken spawning, now was the good time to talk. "Where's my sister!" I asked, "What have you done to her!"

"I've seen it all before Seaworthy," he said, "Your not a bad inventor, all you need is someone to help you work out the bugs."

"What?" I asked.

"The disks you have, they tell the past and future of the events you are experiencing. I want all of them, and in their orange casings or you'll never see Berry again."

He knows about the DVD disks, I only found 11 at the moment. I don't know how many there were suppose to be, my temper was sparked and exploded by hearing the threat. "You touch her-" I tried to say.

An earthquake suddenly occurred and the giant sea shell was knocked off balance, it was about to roll on top of us. Having no time to finish my sentence, me and the kidnapper jumped out of the way of the sea shell. It gently rolled into the canyon below, before I heard it shatter like a fragile vase. I looked up and saw the kidnapper stunned and the gun right before me, I made a mad jump and grabbed it.

Realizing that I have his gun, he jumped right into the canyon and vanished into darkness. "You're going to get me all the DVDs, Seaworthy!" he called out.

"I'll tear your insides out if you hurt Berry!" I yelled back at him, "Do you hear me? Come back here!"

He didn't respond, I guess our meeting was over. Time to get back to Billy Bob.

With the cable cart destroyed, I end up seeking an alternative route back home. I found more disks in the process, I assumed I'm going the right way. Just as I came through a narrow gap between two corral reefs, more Taken showed themselves.

"Omega-3 fatty acids are good for your heart." one of them rambled.

I fought them quickly, dodging more knives and wrenches as they through them. I gunned them down and managed to kill them all, just as the last of their bodies vaporized my phone rang. It was Billy Bob, and I answered it.

"Radio," he stammered, "There are schools of fishes circling the house, a couple of them got in through the kitchen window but I managed to block them off. AllStar, SmallStar, and their parents are still asleep but I don't know how long they will remain asleep. Rex is crawled up in the corner, scared in fright. Please hurry back Radio, hurry!"

"Don't worry Billy Bob," I reassured, "I'm on my on my way."

I hanged up and continued onto finding a road, sure enough I found one, and there were Taken waiting for me. They yelled out their gibberish before they move in to fight, and I shined my flashlight at them to hold them back. Once their dark shrouds flashed off their bodies, I gunned them down quickly. But just as the coast was clear, more Taken showed up. Luckily there was a street light nearby, and so I rushed over to it and got under its protective beam.

I watched the Taken dissolve into nothing, for the moment I was safe.

I took the time to rest underneath the light, suddenly my phone rang again. It was the kidnapper, and so I answered it. "You prick," I cursed, "Where's my sister."

"You hand over the DVD disks and you get your sibling back," barked the kidnapper, "Simple as that."

"I wanna talk to Berry!" I demanded.

"No can do."

"Do you even have her?"

He didn't answer right away, he probably didn't expected me to ask that question. "Two days!" he blurted out, "You got 2 days to bring all the DVDs, meet me at the abandoned salt mine west of Snorkland around noon. If you don't show up within 48 hours, well... you get me?"

"Of course I do." I replied.

He hanged up on my ear, and so I put the phone away. Resting time was over, so I got up and left the safety of the light to search for a vehicle.

I managed to find one just off the side of the curve with its internal lights on, I also managed to find a star cache next to it. Inside the cache, there lay a Standard Infantry Rifle. It was a rifle designed for accuracy, and its barrel can be switched to either a rifle, shotgun, or sniper mod. Thankfully this is a rifle mod, so I took it and along with the ammo.

With a new weapon, I feel more safe. I got into the automobile and started it up, the headlights came on beautifully. I floored it, and sped down the road as carefully as possible. Along the way, I encountered individual Taken. The headlights stripped off their darkness armor in a second, then I ran them over without difficulty. Each time I ran one over, they burst into static and vanish quickly. For some reason, it seemed amusing.

Boulders block the road up ahead, probably knocked loose by the earthquake earlier. So I stopped the car and got out, that's the winds and shadows began to stir again. I quickly swam over the boulders and managed to discover the entrance to Snorkland behind it, its lights gleamed ever so brightly. With safety in sight, I made a mad dash towards the lights. Once I entered Snorkland, the winds and shadows stopped moving immediately.

Now safe, I made my way to AllStar's house. Billy Bob said something about schools of fish, I recall the school of fish that killed the cable cart awhile I was on it, I assumed a similar treatment.

I head down the deserted road and reached AllStar's house, and saw schools of fish circling above. Nearby there was a star cache full of flare gun ammo, the flare gun was probably the best weapon against the dark things I was facing. "Radio!" I heard Billy Bob cried inside the house, "Oh thank Neptune that's you, get rid of the fishes please! Make them go away!"

I aimed at the large school of fish and fired, the flare shot up into the air and exploded in the swarm. I saw many fish burst into static and disappear from the light, I soon got the swarms attention and they charged after me. They let out a squawk before attacking, each time they near me I fired a flare at point blank range directly in their faces. The noise generated by the fishes might wake up the neighbors, in fact it did. I saw many snork faces at the windows of surrounding homes as they watch me annihilate the schools of fish.

"Why are the fishes mean?" I heard SmallStar say from inside the home. Great, now the entire family was awake.

After a few minutes, I took out the last of the fishes and the remainder dissolved into the night. "Billy Bob," I called out to him, "The fishes are gone, you can come out now."

Billy Bob opens the door and I walked inside, turns out I woke everybody up. They were in the main room, in their pajamas. "I saw the fishes burn," said Mr. Seaworthy, "What happened out there Radio?"

"I don't exactly know," I replied as I sat aside my guns, flares, and flashlight on the table, "But its not over yet."

"Now I see why you wanted me to sleep with the lights on," said AllStar, "There's something after us, and light repels it."

"I'll explain everything tomorrow," I said, "Just go back to bed, and everything will be find in the morning."

As Mr. and Mrs. Seaworthy heads back to bed, AllStar took SmallStar to her bedroom. When me and Billy Bob were alone, he yawned, "I hope you know what you're doing, I don't think we could keep the truth from them for long."

"We'll tell them," I said as I held up a DVD disk, "These disks will explain everything."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

I incident of me shooting schools of fish with a flare gun made headlines the next day, including the announcement of my missing sister. It didn't take long for several reporters and paparazzis to come knocking on my door, well technically AllStar's front door. Rex managed to keep them away, and Occy helped him too. During most of the day, I watched the DVDs on the TV as I sent out Billy Bob to do some research on the disappearances.

The DVDs spooked me, I couldn't make much sense of them. They're just a collection of random events that had took place or will take place in third-person, but I don't know where and when. How do these DVDs came into existence was a mystery to me, nor does it explain my memory blackout. Despite this, the DVDs gave me a better understanding on what's happening, I also now understand why the kidnapper wants them so bad.

I didn't get the chance to show AllStar the videos, he had school and he can't afford to be late. And Mrs. Seaworthy took SmallStar to the park as Mr. Seaworthy worked, maybe its because I slept in, as I always do.

Just around noon, Billy Bob returned with a smile on his face. "Good news," he said, "Someone found some of the DVDs."

"Who?" I asked as I turned off the TV and removed one of the disks out of the DVD player.

"Someone named Celia," said Billy Bob, "She claims she knows AllStar."

"Celia?" I asked, "The girl with blonde hair?"

"That Celia."

"Oh, well lets go."

"Should we wait till AllStar get's back?"

"No, I say we gun it."

"Let's go."

Rex and Occy stayed behind as we head towards Celia's house by car, along the way Billy Bob explains the information he dug up. "Oddly enough that the snorks who were disappearing happened to be just outside of Snorkland or in deserted areas of Snorkland, get this, all of the disappearances happens at night and there were no daytime disappearances."

"There were also snorks who were found to be in a state of confusion and zombism, they just sit there rambling random quotes about their professions and stuff."

"I already know this," I said, "Dr. Gallio told me."

"I may had interviewed him a bit," said Billy Bob.

We drove into a small housing area and reached Celina's house at the very back, we got out of the car and approach her front door. "I heard rumors that she may have a crush on you." said Billy Bob as he nudged me with his elbow, "You'll might get a potential date."

"You're bluffing." I muttered.

I rang the door bell and Celia opened the door immediately, her place was dark inside and it feels cold. "Hello there," said Celia in an emotionless tone, "Oh, Radio, its you, please come in."

Something's not right with her, she had a blank stare and was in a zombie-like state, just what Billy Bob said earlier. I was at first suspicious, until I got a whiff of a delicious smell inside. It made my stomach literally gurgle, "You made some food for us?" I asked hopefully.

"Reefburgers." said Celia.

"Oh boy!" I cried.

Billy Bob could have snapped me out of it, but his judgment was poor, and so played along. Celia led us inside and served us some reefburgers in the living room, we seated ourselves on the couch and I helped my self with a few as Billy Bob ate a couple. "Wow," said Billy Bob, "This is really good."

"Now where's the DVD's Celia?" I asked as I finished off the last of the burgers.

"What?" she asked emotionally.

"Aw crap," I said, "Billy, she's wasting our time."

"Hey Radio?" asked Billy Bob, "Something doesn't feel right."

Suddenly Billy Bob collapsed onto the floor and passes out, "What the?" I muttered as I began to feel dizzy. "Oh crap."

It immediately realized I was drugged with a hypnotic, I can't believe I allowed myself to fall into the trap, it was a painful lesson to learn. I collapsed onto the couch and passed out, helpless.

As I sleep, I had this dream where I was surrounded in darkness. All I keep hearing was "Turn the lights on" and "You must turn the lights on," Then suddenly I heard a dark evil female voice, "Back to work Seaworthy."

I woke up scared sh#tless as I jump off the couch, I made a mad dash to the nearest light switch and flicked it on. An LED lit up the room as I pant wildly from the state of shock, what seemed like a few minutes was actually hours as it was now night. Billy Bob was leaning over as he rest his face on the coffee table, still knocked out from the hypnotic as Celia sat on the ground rocking back and forth. "Give me an S," she said in an emotionless tone, "Give me an N, give me an O, give me an R, give me a K. Put it all together and what does it spell? Snork."

Celina had took a day from me, I now have 24 hours to meet the kidnapper. I opened the door and saw that the car was gone, it must be either impounded or stolen. I hate to leave Billy Bob behind, but there's no way I'm missing the kidnapper's appointment. So I head straight for the entrance of the housing area, finding a few of the mysterious DVDs in the process.

As I approached the entrance, there was a snork standing there. He had the same skin color as Celia, I began to thought he's her father. I suddenly saw flashing lights, it was the police. Seeing a potential viral video, I pulled out my POV camera and placed it around my head and turn it on. The camera is designed to make a video at the point of view of the camerasnork, I want to get my side of the story via this small device.

When I reached the front entrance, the snork turned around saw me approach. "There's no telling what you've done to my daughter." he said stirnly, now I know he's Celia's father."

"There you are!" yelled Governor Wetworth as he approached with several police officers behind him as police sirens turn off, "Once I've heard you were here, I knew I have to see this through. You're under arrest Snorac Snorton!"

Governor Wetworth pulled out a gun of his own, when he did I made a break for it. I used my snork to propel me through the water as fast as I can as Wetworth and several police officers try to shoot me, despite multiple shots were fired I was unharmed and I successfully made it through a hole in the fence which leads down into a very ditch.

"Make it easy on us Seaworthy!" I heard a cop yelled at me.

Suddenly Wetworth got onto a bullhorn, "Move it, move it, move it!" he barked, "I'll have you fired if you let him get away!"

I made a mad dash down the ditch and past a few large corral reefs, finding more DVDs along the way, there happened to be a road nearby and a police car with its siren blaring pulled up beside. I just kept running as the occupants get out and the siren shuts off, "Okay snorks," I heard one of the cop say, "He's going to try to make it through here."

They had flashlights, but I quietly gave them the slip. "Where is he?" I heard another cop say.

Just when I was just about to get away, someone fired a flare up into the air and lit up the place with a bright green light. "Oh f#ck!" I cursed.

"There's Seaworthy!" I heard a cop say as they opened fire, "Don't let him get away!"

"Seaworthy!" another cop yelled.

Suddenly I was shot in the arm, just above the elbow. The pain made me pick up the pace as I tried my best to ignore it, "I got him!" I heard Junior's voice say, "No wait, he's still running!"

"Follow the blood trail!" I heard a cop say.

I turned around and saw my own blood leaving a steady stream behind me, I also saw Junior running back to the cop car on top of the tall ditch. I continued running down the trench and found my way to the end, I took a moment for me to extract the bullet out of my arm. I discovered that I couldn't bend it 180 degrees, so I forced to do so and the bullet popped out of my arm through the entry wound it made. It was sick, but I had sustained worse wounds in the past.

I continued running and discovered a road up ahead, that's when a cop car shot out of nowhere and crashed, it looked like something through it like a toy. When I approached it, the headlights of the cop car went out, but the radio was still on and working normally. "Governor Wetworth, this is Chief Robinson, over," I heard Chief Robinson's voice say.

"Go ahead Robinson," said Governor Wetworth on the radio.

"I received reports that you've fired at Radio Seaworthy and he wasn't armed!" he spat, "You almost shot a civilian instead!"

"He's running Robinson!" screamed Wetworth, "He's dangerous and he's already wanted for multiple accounts of vandalism and trespassing, over!"

"That doesn't mean you could go shooting at the poor kid! I know he publicly humiliated you, but the punishment doesn't fit the crime!"

"You should have arrested him when he showed up at the police station!"

"I know, I should have. Stay put Governor, I'll get over to your position, over and out!"

The radio transmission ended, I began to search the police vehicle for anything of use. I managed to find a First Aid Kit and I used it to bandage the bulletwound I had sustained, I kept searching and discovered a flashlight in the glove compartment. I grabbed it and turned it on, it worked like a charm. I soon left the area and went up a corral reef, I was right on the edge of a cliff. Below, I saw many police officers with octopuses searching for me below.

"Search the area!" I heard one of them say, "Find Seaworthy!"

That's when the currents began to pick up and the shadows move, I stood there and watch as a large dark cloud covered the area. I saw nearby outdoor lamps pop and blacken as the entity closes in. "What's going on!" I heard a cop scream.

Something roared, and the cops began to fire their guns as the scream. "We need backup!" a cop cried, "Help! AHHH!"

I heard the octopuses whine for mercy, it sounded like they were killed in the process. Within seconds, the winds and shadows ceased and everything went silent. With the show over, I continued down the path. After getting about a few meters, I stumble into a police car sitting right on the edge of the cliff. "Robinson!" I heard Wetworth scream on the radio, "I lost all contact with the snorks you've assigned to me, Seaworthy's responsible!"

"The kid?" asked Chief Robinson, "He's in no shape to take out a squad of cops."

"If it not Seaworthy, then who? A Snork-Eater? Over."

"I don't know what's going on yet, I'm not jumping into conclusions like your son Governor. I'll find out whats happening and make a decision till then, over and out."

I left the wrecked squad car and continued down the path, after getting about a meter a submarine appeared out of nowhere and shined its powerful light at me. It was a definitely a police sub, and it was after me. As I ran, I heard a squawk and saw a couple of schools of fishes appeared out of nowhere. The submarine backed away from the cliff and the fishes dove straight into its propellers, disabling it. I watched it spun out of control before it crashed into the side of a corral reef below, I have to say that was pretty badass.

Continuing down the trail, I discovered it leads down into the valley below. I don't know what to find down there, since the police didn't stand a chance against the Dark Presence. They were after a scientist, not a monster.

As I descend down into the valley, I caught sight of another wrecked squad car. Inside the trunk, I caught sight of the flash-bang grenades in the trunk. They seem ideal for my situation, so I grabbed as many as I can. I tucked some of the grenades in my pocket and have one ready in hand, I'll be expecting Taken tonight. Just when I'm in the very bottom, the wind and shadows shift again. I continue to run down the same direction I was going, knowing that the salt mine should be that way. It wasn't long before the Taken showed themselves, not surprisingly they were the police officers who were already chasing me before hand.

"You have the right, to remain silent!" I heard one of them yap parts of the Miranda warning in the usual demonic tone as they brandish axes, "Do you understand these rights?"

I pulled the pin and tossed the flash-bang grenade into the group of Taken, the grenade explode and killed the Taken with a bright flash of light. Now that seemed easy, but I actually have to conserve what I have since flash-bang grenades aren't easily bought in the market. Suddenly something made a noise, I jumped, only to find that it was just some loose rock.

Everywhere I turn, there were enemies everywhere. The nightmare followed me where ever I went, even when it's day. The thought of Berry screaming for help inside of a really small enclosure came to mind, I shook the thought out of my head and try to refocus on the situation. I approach this oddly shaped gate, looked old and rusted, but appears to be unlocked. Just before I opened it the Dark Presence possessed it.

Shadows clung to the gate and made it twitch, I aimed my flashlight at it and it tried to resisted. It shook violently in its hinges, as if it was trying to escape. After a few seconds, the gate couldn't take it anymore and burst into static, before vanishing into nothing.

The Dark Presence must be getting stronger, its trying to take over everything in its path. I didn't realize it then, I just thought it can only control gates. As I thought about this, I continued down the path and spot something over on a hill at the distance. I recognize it as Dr. Gallio's lab, however it was about 100 meters away.

A little guy like me might have trouble getting there, snorks are only 7 centimeters tall. It takes longer for snorks to travel even when swimming past obstacles, but I can cover vast amount of distance in a short period of time. I could swim high above the ocean floor, but the currents would suck me away to oblivion. This was the reason why snorks and other creatures stay near the ocean floor.

As I travel, the currents and shadows didn't shift this time, but the Taken spawned anyway, "Freeze!" one of them blurted at random.

They charged at me, but I held them back with my flashlight before tossing a flash-bang grenade at them, it went off and killed several Taken, I tossed another one and eliminated the rest.

I kept running, this was what I had been doing instead of swimming. Realizing I'm going nowhere fast, I propel myself through the water with my snork. For some reason, I felt drained, exhausted, so I continued using my feet. I found myself out of breath ever since Berry went missing. Its because a part of me wanted to give in and quit, but another part of me doesn't want to give up and that what kept me going, I wanna find Berry even if she's dead.

At least Dr. Gallio's lab was now closer, maybe he could give me directions to the salt mine. I heard he had done some research about salt due to a shortage of the mineral some time ago, I just hope he can point the way to the salt mine so I could meet up with the kidnapper. This hope urged me on, bolstered by the hope of reuniting with Berry again.

Just as I near the lab, another wave of Taken appeared. "You are under arrest!" a Taken rambled.

I let a flash-bang grenade fly, it annihilated the Taken very easily. When I reached the hill where the lab sits on, I started climbing its face. Up at the summit, another Taken police officer was throwing knives and wrenches at me. I shined my flashlight at the Taken to keep him away from the edge until I managed to get up to the top. As he yells gibberish, I threw a flash-bang grenade at the Taken's face. When it gone off, everything went white, followed by a ringing sound.

I didn't toss the grenade far enough, and so I flash-banged myself. I scrambled underneath Dr. Gallio's outdoor lamp just above his front door and rest underneath its glow, just until I recover. When the flash-bang grenade's effects ceased, I noticed an abandoned, but still operational squad car nearby.

"Make it quick." I told myself.

I got up to my feet and opened Dr. Gallio's front door, once inside I closed and locked the door behind me and searched for Dr. Gallio. I found him working on the same machine he was working on just a week ago, when he saw me he was surprised at me being here. "Radio?" he asked as he puts down his wrench, "What are you doing here this late at night?"

"I am being chased by the police and a monster," I try to explain, all I could do is show you the most important thing."

"What is it Radio?" he asked.

I took off my POV camera and handed it to Dr. Gallio, "This will explain what I had been through on the way over here, just please make sure you get the truth out."

"What happened to your arm?" asked Dr. Gallio worriedly as he caught sight of the blood stained bandage on my arm.

"Junior shot me," I said, "But that's the least of my concerns at the moment."

"You're not well Radio," said Dr. Gallio, "You're not well at all."

"Its because I lost Berry." I blurted out in an emotional tone, "Ever since she vanished, I hadn't been myself. Part of me just wanted to give up, and I don't have the energy to swim at hyper-speeds anymore."

That pretty much confirmed Dr. Gallio's suspicion. "Oh you poor snork." he said, "Just why are you here exactly?"

Before I said anything, police sirens from outside blared a bit, followed by a loud booming voice. "We know you're in there Michael Snoraday!" it was Governor's Wetworth's voice, "Come up with your hands up!"

"Cool your snork Governor," said Chief Robinson, "We got him."

"Just don't hurt him." I heard Corky muttered, "He's been through a lot already."

The Governor saw me through a window, and he pointed his gun straight at me and fired. The bullet shadowed the window, yet I dove out of the way as it shattered another window at the back. "For Neptune's sake Governor!" barked Chief Robinson.

As everyone was confused, I got up and dove straight out the back window and tumbled down the small hillside into an inaccessible area. Dazed, I looked up and saw the Governor ran up to the edge of the hill as Corky and Chief Robinson stood side by side. They didn't appear they've seen me since I fell into a small cave, "I'll get you!" cried Governor Wetworth, "You hear me Albert Snorkstien! I'll hunt you down to that Outback of yours!"

I would have turned myself in, Chief Robinson seemed friendly enough. But with Governor Wellington Wetworth involved, surrender is not an option. "He's gone Governor," said Corky, "Let's just go."

"He'll be back," said the Governor rudely, "I'll get him soon enough."

I watched as Corky and Governor Wetworth turned around and walked away, but Chief Robinson stayed behind. He just stood there for a moment, staring out into the darkness. Suddenly he pulled out his gun and stared at it for a brief second before he threw it out into the valley below as hard as he can, then he turned around and leaved.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

Why would he toss his gun over to me, I wonder, Does he know what I was going through? The thought seemed pleasant, so I crawled out of the cave and try to locate the gun. I managed to find it not far from the cave's mouth, I quickly picked it up and head off to the salt mine. Good thing I didn't get the change to tell Dr. Gallio where I'm going, Governor Wetworth might torture him into spilling the beans.

As I walked, the sun peaked over the horizon. Relieved by its presence, I turned off the flashlight and managed to locate the salt mine. The abandoned salt mine was no longer operational, it was now a museum. It was deserted, maybe it hadn't opened yet. With the police after me, I quickly find cover inside the main building. He wasn't there, probably because I was early. I simply pulled up the chair and the waiting game begins.

As noon approached, I began to think about my work in the past. How I managed to restart many lives who had lost all hope because of Governor Wetworth in turn on helping me build my Seaworthy empire. The work I've done benefited Snorkland a lot, introducing them to new technologies never before seen by their little eyes. All in using my family's name and using AllStar's belt buckle as a symbol of that family, my generosity and ambitions had praised the snorks of Snorkland and they held me as a hero. But I've forgotten something, my own loved ones.

AllStar is my father and always has been, he even wanted to be my friend. I've realized how badly I had mistreated him, even humiliated him in public at times. He literally ran up to me begging for help during a Neuroctopus invasion, and I called him a pussy in response.

The crap he had endured yet still fight on was inspiring, such as getting dumped into a vat of heavy water contaminated with radiation. By now, he should have been fed up by me, yet he continues to eat my sh#t. I did all the wrong things, yet he still proud to call me his friend and son. All of these bad memories, shame, and sorrow combined with the lost of my sister caused me to crack. I broke down in tears from the strain.

I've cried for hours, feeling ashamed of myself for everything, I was too young to handle all these things at once. After rolling in the sand for about 30 minutes, I soon noticed noon had past since the shadows outside were now facing east. The kidnapper didn't show up, the fact caused me to loose my mind a little bit.

First I sang to myself for a few minutes, then I got up and started walking around like a lunatic. Next I started drawing complex mathematical problems on the wall, solved them, then check them twice, when I saw an error I redid the calculations and check them again. After I fill every corner of all the walls in the room, I played in the sand floor for a little bit, just simply made a pile of sand. When I got bored of the sand, I played with the flashlight by acting like it was a light-saber. And finally when I can't think of anything else to do, I walked up to a corner of the room and masturbated, twice.

Exhausted from stimulating myself, I pulled my pants up and slumped backwards onto the floor and slept the rest of the day off. I awoke from the sound of my satellite phone ringing, when I opened my eyes I realized it was night. I quickly got out my phone and answered it, it was the kidnapper. "Change of plans," I heard the kidnapper yap, "Meet me at the Source, near the fault line skimming outside of Snorkland. I'll be waiting."

"Where the hell were you!" I cursed at him, "I swear to god that I'm tired of playing your games!"

"Hold your snork Seaworthy," warned the kidnapper, "You better watch what you say to me or your sister suffers, got it?"

"I wanna talk to Berry," I demanded, "Assuming that you have her since you didn't aswer my question."

"And I want the DVDs," he added, "Just get your snork here, deliver the damn disks, and you get your sibling back! Fair and square!"

The conversation ended with him hanging up on my ear, I swore as I put my phone away. With rage steaming from my ears, I kicked the chair I had been sitting on that morning across the room.

Suddenly I felt the ground shake, followed by a roar, it was the Dark Presence. I gotta get out of the mining complex and get to a nearby road, with the police after me in Snorkland I must find an alternative route to the Source. The Source is a geothermal vent that gives Snorkland its energy, it produces steam which is collected by pipelines leading to the Snorkland Steam Plant that process the raw energy and generates electricity for consumer use. Why would he wanted to meet me there is unknown, maybe its because the Source gives off light or something.

I could travel the nearby road and get to the Steam Plant, then I diverge from there and follow the pipelines to the Source. It was a risky plan, even with the Dark Presence out of the equation, I could get caught by the police on arrival at the Steam Plant. To me, any plan is better than no plan.

I got out my flashlight and turned on, then I pulled out the gun Chief Robinson gave me. When I opened the door and walked out of the main building, the currents and shadow shifts again. I ready for myself for the Taken, and here they come. These Taken appear to be salt miners, I can tell because of their yellow hard hat and their brown clothes, not to mention they were using pickaxes as weapons. "All accidents could be prevented!" a Taken utters out an echo of its former self.

I aimed my flashlight at the Taken, removed all of their dark shrouds, then gunned them down before they knew what hit them. When they vanished, I swam out of the area and try to navigate my way out of complex. There seemed to be no way to leave without getting swept away by the oceanic currents, I was surround by 3 of them. The only real way out seemed to be directly into the coal mine, so I tried to find the entrance.

When I did, something extraordinary happened. The support beams underneath the rails shot upward towards the surface, then random mining junk surround the rail started hovering above the ocean floor. They were covered in darkness and were twitching wildly, it can only mean one thing: poltergeists.

I aimed my flashlight at one of them, then suddenly all of them hurled themselves towards me. It only got half-way to me, but they got right back up, led out a squeal, and charges up for another go. I kept my flashlight focused on them, one by one they burst into static and vaporize into nothing. I dodge out of the way as the last of them hurl themselves at me a second time, but I managed to take them out with a flash-bang grenade.

With the entrance clear, I swam straight into the salt mine. I find it dark and creepy, it would be my place to hide if the Dark Presence wasn't around. There were some lighting in the cave, and I found more of the orange casings containing the prophetic disks on random equipment. Convinced that I'm going the right way, I navigate my way around the caves, but when I got to an intersection I was ambushed by more Taken. "When snorks get tired, they get careless." gibbered a Taken.

I used a couple of my flares due to how cramp the corridors are, they were repelled back and I used my flashlight to remove their protective darkness. I fired my gun at them, killed every single Taken in there. I head out the cave at the middle and ignored the left and right ones, I swam down the cave and wound up in another area. It was like a puzzle, I have to navigate my way past the salt mine equipment and make my way to an emergency exit shaft.

There, I made it out back into the open, and found the road I was looking for. There were no cars in sight, that is both a good thing and bad thing. No cars mean I won't get caught, maybe there are snorks who aren't Taken will turn against me due to Wetworth's propaganda. Also, no cars mean I can't get from point A to point B at a faster rate.

I swam down the road, maybe I could flag down a car if one drives by. I don't wanna hitchhike, but I might have a good explanation when they saw an ax come through the side window. I swam down the road for a few minutes until I caught sight of an abandoned car, it had its internal lights on. It seemed to be a good sign, especially when the Dark Presence was now controlling inanimate objects. I hopped in and started it up, the car purred like a catfish and I hit the road.

Driving down the road, I wonder if I would encounter more Taken or neutral snorks. The road lights seemed to be functioning, but every time I approach one the bulb pops and goes dark. The Dark Presence was trying to catch up to me, to do that it needed to exterminate any powerful light source to do so. I began to wonder why the Dark Presence wants me so bad, I was clueless on its intentions at the time.

Just I came around the corner, I saw a sand road with a sign that says, "Snorkland Steam Plant" I took the turn towards the sand road and drove down it for a short while, sure enough I saw the Snorkland Steam Plant over at the horizon with all of Snorkland nearby. Lights were on inside the plant, it seemed promising. But just as I near, the lights inside went dark and I felt the ground shook.

Power was still on at Snorkland, the plant may be still functioning despite it being hit with darkness, or Snorkland is running off of reserve power that was stored in emergency back up generators. Whatever was the case, I would see the damage soon. But when the Taken show up in the middle of the road, I didn't have to wait long.

These Taken appear to be the snorks who work at the Snorkland Power Plant, the headlights stripped off the protective darkness before I ran over them. After running over a few, AllStar came to mind. His dad, my grandfather, works at the plant. He must be in danger, I have to see if he's alright.

I drove up to the side of the plant and got out of the car, that's when I saw a star cache hiding out near the border. I ran up to the cache and found a Standard Infantry Rifle shotgun mod, along with a lantern flashlight. I turned off my Heavy-Duty flashlight and tucked it into my backpack as I tuck my gun into my pocket, I grabbed the lantern flashlight and turned it on, its beam even more powerful than my Heavy-Duty flashlight. I grabbed the SIR and loaded it with ammo, I may need this since I was about to dive into close quarters again.

I rushed up to the side door and kicked it open before pointing my flashlight inside, there seemed to be no one there. I walked inside and looked around, still I didn't see anyone. "Mr. Seaworthy!" I cried out over the hum of the machines, "Are you there?"

I got a response alright, the door behind me slammed and I was ambush by the Taken who was working here just a few minutes ago. "The Source's temperature is 464 degrees Celsius!" one of them blurted out.

I shined my lantern flashlight at them, the new improved one made stripping their darkness off their bodies slightly easier. They were armed with large wrenches and fire axes, and they try to strike me with them. I dodged them without a sweat, then I stripped off their darkness and shot them with the SIR. It went off with a boom every time I fired, and thank the designers for semi-auto. I shot a Taken point-blank range and it was an instant kill, turns out it was difficult to kill them at greater distances.

As I killed the Taken, I try to locate Mr. Seaworthy's office. I recall it being upstairs in the higher levels, so I made my way to a stairwell. I climbed up some stairs up against a concrete wall and reached a door at the end of it, when I opened it I saw a long hallway. Mr. Seaworthy's office is at the far end of the hall. As I got half-way through, I heard a crash behind me, and I heard a chainsaw.

I turned around and saw a beer bellied snork Taken wielding the most massive chainsaw that I've ever seen, stained by the blood of its victims. "Chainsaws are noisy." said the Taken.

I kept him back with a flare, then I sat the flare down and focused my lantern flashlight at the Taken. The Taken was running the chainsaw's motor as he tries to come near, the flare went out and he tries to approach again. He charges onward as I shined the flashlight in his face, within a flash his darkness armor was stripped off. I started firing my SIR at him, making sure he gets the full blast of each shot. A few rounds later and the Taken burst into static and vanish, along with the chainsaw.

With the boss defeated, I swam right up to the office door and opened it. I heard groaning as I swam into the room, "Help!" I heard someone choke, "Help me please!"

I found Mr. Seaworthy sitting up against the corner of the office, his blood had stained the floor and walls. A Taken had took his ax and plunged it into my grandfather's stomach, I tried to hold back my remorseful cry. I soon noticed a couple of used flares next to him, explaining why he hadn't been taken. "Mr. Seaworthy?" I called.

"Radio?" he looked up at me, he didn't smile but his eyes meant that he was both glad and surprised to see me, "Radio is that you?"

"Its me grandpa." I said.

"Oh," he sighed with relief, "Those things got me, just the way it happened on that compact disk."

He must have found one of the DVDs, "The disk contained in an orange casing?" I asked.

"Yes." he answered.

"Oh god."

"The police are after you," warned Mr. Seaworthy, "If they catch you, you'll get arrested."

"Better the police than the horror you've just witness," I said, "This is just what happened to Dr. Strangesnork."

"He's now one of them?"

"He's dead."

"Oh snork."

"My mistake was leaving him to turn the lights back on, but the Taken destroyed the breaker box and the Dark Presence got him when I was away. I'm not making that same mistake, this time I'm going to get you out of here and to a street lamp outside."

I helped up Mr. Seaworthy and had him get onto my back, he groaned in pain as I grabbed the DVD he just watched off of his desk. "Its not too late grandpa," I said, "Think about AllStar and SmallStar, you gotta hang on there."

As I try to get him out of the office and into the hall, a Taken showed himself, "Avoid being electrocuted!" he blurted.

I shined my flashlight at the Taken and held the beam steady, it tries to march through but his dark shroud flashed off and I killed him with one shot of the SIR. "There will be more of them," I warned, "Is there a box full of flares?"

"To your left." Mr. Seaworthy said weakly.

I opened the door and saw a whole box full of flares on the shelf, I grabbed as many as I could get my hands on and stuffed them into my pants. I carried Mr. Seaworthy to the stairs and lit a flare, I tossed it to the bottom before descending. It was a slow and uneasy process, I had to be careful not to trip or it will be all over. I made it down without problems, but now more Taken showed up.

"Cut your electric bill by turning off the lights!" blurted a Taken, for some reason that quote seemed somewhat appropriate for them to say.

"You're all fired!" coughed Mr. Seaworthy.

"They can't be reasoned with grandpa," I said as I pulled out a flare, "They're just husks of the former with dead nerve twitches."

I lit the flare and held the Taken back as I made my way to the front entrance, each time I used up a flare I pulled out another one and lit it before continuing onward to the entrance. I heard many Taken's armor flashed off their bodies due to the light, and soon I stop hearing the sound of a circular saw after the forth flare. Suddenly the ground shook as I near the entrance, with all my strength I ran towards the entrance as pipes and support beams collapse around me. I jumped out through the entrance and used my snork to get me as far away from the plant as possible.

"Are you okay Mr. Seaworthy?" I asked.

"I'm... fine." he muttered.

I turned around and saw that the Dark Presence had covered the entire Steam Plant with darkness, the shadows move like blood flowing through crystal clear water. That that moment, numerous Taken appeared out of thin air in a small cloud of darkness at the plant. Just when they started yelling gibberish, I turned and ran towards the nearest street light. Holding onto Mr. Seaworthy tightly, I jumped underneath the light and saw the Taken behind us fade out of sight.

"You are safe as long as you are in a presence of a lamp," I told Mr. Seaworthy as I laid him down, then I pulled out the flashlight in my backpack and handed it to him, "This is backup just in case the bulb in this lamp burst, I have to go and find my sister."

"I'll call 9-1-1 on my shellphone," said Mr. Seaworthy, "I won't tell them I ever saw them, but how am I going to explain this?"

"I don't know," I said, "With the plant disabled, it won't be long before the last of the reserve power is drained and the lights go dark. Soon all of Snorkland will know the truth on what's happening."

I examined Mr. Seaworthy's wounds, "Your internal organs appear undamaged," I explain to him, "Your hip bone stopped the ax, I think you're going to be okay."

For some reason, the Dark Presence lifted its shadows off the Steam Plant and free it from its grasp. "I have to go and find my sister," I told him, "Be safe."

"I will Radio." said Mr. Seaworthy, "Just do what you have to do."

I left Mr. Seaworthy underneath the glow of the ramp as he calls 9-1-1. I swam around the plant and located the massive pipes that leads to the source, now all I have to do is follow them. I swam above the pipes towards the Source, I feel reinvigorated by the thought of seeing my sister again. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up high, but I did so anyway. I muster up all the strength I can and blown my snork hard, I zipped through the water like lightning for the first time since Berry's dissappearence.

I ignored the Taken that were spawning below, I had no time to waste on them. I just kept a steady course to the Source, I'll soon hand all the DVDs I have on me to the kidnapper and if that's not enough, I'll hold him at gun point and make him talk. I began to realize that the events shown on the DVDs are coming true, with every detail and word at the right moment and right time. But how is this possible? How? It will be a question I will have to solve later, right now I just want my Berry back.

After just a few minutes, I felt the heat emanating from the Source. Its been a long time since any snork has been there, the last snorks who had been here were AllStar and his gang who happened to have dislodge a man-made rocket that was lodged in the oceanic furnace. When I saw the red glow of the Source fast approaching, I slowed down and came to a screeching halt.

"Radio!" I heard the kidnapper yell, "Is that you!"

"Its me!" I called out.

"Oh Neptune," I heard his voice echo, he sounded distraught, "Get away!"

"What?" I asked.

"We never had your sister!" he cried, "She probably drowned, we've lied so we could get to you!"

"I knew that you were working with someone," I called out, "Goddamnit!"

Berry wasn't here, my emotions went south. He had been wasting my time for the past few days, all the anger I had against him was somehow lifted.

I swam over the reef and saw the kidnapper just sitting there on his knees, in total disarray. Just as he approach, he was just about to turn and look at me when something sucked him up towards the surface screaming. I looked up and saw a massive black whirlpool with shadows circling it, suddenly the whirlpool began to suck me in as well. As it did, I pulled out a flare and lit it. I heard the whirlpool squeal in pain as it spun me around in a circle, then it spat me out over the Source.

Disoriented, I go limp. I thought I was about to plunge into the Source and be incinerated, but something saved me that night. A metal hydraulic claw shot out of nowhere and grabbed me just a snork away from touching the lava, the last thing I remember before I blacked out was being pulled to safety as the Dark Presence retreats, the flare still burning in my hand.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

After experiencing a horrible nightmare of Berry being tortured, I opened my eyes and found myself safe and sound. I got up and noticed I was in some sort of cell, at first I thought I was in jail until I caught a whiff of a foul odor in the air. It smelled foul, this isn't a police holding cell. The place seemed medieval, cobblestone floors and walls. I looked around for my flashlight, my backpack, my gun, and the DVDs, they were no where to be found.

Suddenly I heard someone coming down the hall, I looked and saw a familiar rival. The sea urchin, Bigweed.

"You're awake," he said, "Good."

I saw Lil' Seaweed appear as she stepped next to Bigweed, "What are we going to do to him Bigweed?"

"I don't know at the moment," said Bigweed, "The most important thing at the moment is that we have him!"

"Let me guess," I theorized, "You decided to save me so I would praise you for saving my life, so I could build a machine for you to take over Snorkland. You think that the possibility of me joining you is high since the Governor is after my blood and now I have nothing to loose, you assume this will be like a ball in the park. Do I stand correct?"

"Wow," said Bigweed, "You prove smarter than you worth."

"Where's your accomplice?" I asked, "The snork who portrayed as the false kidnapper?"

"Dead." said Bigweed, "Whatever that thing is chasing you killed him, but at least I got you first since I thought the Dark Presence had the same intention as mine."

"How do you know about the Dark Presence?"

"I did my homework, I knew the Dark Presence long before it started tormenting you. Of course, a rival told me about the entity, since he's a master of darkness."

The Great Snork Nork showed himself, dropping out of a hole in the ceiling for a dramatic entry as his two henchmen follows behind. "Greetings Seaworthy." sissed the vampire acting snork.

"I'm sure that your friends won't mind you being gone," said Bigweed, "For now, I'll let you sit there until your ready. Lil' Seaweed, watch him. Snork Nork, I need you for a sec."

"Right away Bigweed." said the Great Snork Nork.

Bigweed turned and walked away as the Great Snork Nork and his small henchmen follows him. Me and Lil' Seaweed were now alone, after a moment Lil' Seaweed broke the silence. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Yes," I told her, "I have to admit that I hadn't ate in two days."

"Poor thing," she said as she hold onto the bars, "Maybe I'll get you something."

Months ago, I had dated Lil' Seaweed and slept with her, I charmed her as a result. It seems that she's still under my spell, which is perfect for an escape plan. So I rushed up to her, grabbed her around the waist, and pressed her forehead against mine, "You have no idea what I've been through," I said, "Strangesnork is dead, Dimmy is dead, my grandfather injured, my Great Uncle Gallio is probably in jail, and Billy Bob, well I don't know where he is at the moment. I am boned as far as I could tell."

"Billy Bob is in the castle," said Lil' Seaweed, "He's somewhere upstairs."

"Billy Bob?" I asked.

"He heard what happened and so came here to come pick you up," said Lil' Seaweed, "But Bigweed locked him in a room at the main level. I would get him out, but he proves to much of a hassle to do so."

"He's a Wetworth," I explained, "You know how hard it is to deal with one."

"He was cursing at me when I came near, he was talking in weird rhymes and stuff."

"Definitely Billy Bob."

"We also have some Feral Snorks in the castle, also in the main floor. Bigweed is trying to control them, but they are extremely unpredictable."

"You can thank me for that."

Suddenly I heard crashing noises coming from upstairs, "Git der done!" I heard someone scream, "Come here and face Seaworthy's might!"

"Lil' Seaweed!" I heard Bigweed scream from down the hall, "We need your help here!"

"Coming Bigweed!" she called out.

"Do what you have to do," I said, "Make it quick."

Lil' Seaweed nods as I let go of her and we both stepped back, she stared at me for a moment before running off to aid Bigweed. Now alone, I held out my hand and unwrapped it, revealing the keys to my cell. "Still got my charm." I snickered as I unlocked the cell door.

"Where in Neptune's name did they get a sledgehammer!" cried Bigweed.

"Scratching hag!" I heard a voice say.

"Me?" asked Lil' Seaweed.

"You can rake your claw and gnash your crooked teeth. You've taken slaves like ocean waves now feel the ocean seethe!

That's when I heard a squishy thump and then a solid thud, "Seaweed!" cried Bigweed, "Uh-oh!"

I heard a door slam and then laughter followed, "Come out and face Seaworthy's might!" screamed the lunatic, "You coward, you rotten motherf#cking piece of c###!"

I quickly unlocked my cell door and opened it, I gotta see whoever is causing such a ruckus upstairs. I ran out into the hall and walked up some stairs, I soon reached the top floor and discovered a horrid scene. Two feral snorks were out and about, being idiots. One of them was holding a sledgehammer, and I saw who he had hit. He had slammed Lil' Seaweed's skull in, he hit her hard enough to draw blood.

"AllStar, bless this war, between the dark and light!" one of them sang.

"In their songs let their wrongs bring dissolution's night!" sang the other feral snork.

Bigweed had locked himself inside a storage closet, and now he couldn't get out. He saw me through a small window, for some reason he wasn't mad. "Is Lil' Seaweed alright?" he asked.

"Umm," I said as I checked her pulse, I discovered that she was dead, "I don't know, I can't seem to find a good place to check for a pulse."

I'll just leave it at be, I don't want Bigweed to get mad at me later. "Can you help me out of this situation?" he asked.

"Since you saved my life," I said, "I'll might help you, but tell me where you stored my things since I have something that will take care of these idiots."

"Over there across the room, past that door there," he said, "Now let me out! I'm stuck!"

That's when one of the feral snorks slammed an ax against the wooden door, lodging it deep into the face of the door. "Children of the Atom Bomb!" cried the feral snorks, "Scourge of light upon the dark!"

"On second thought I'll stay here," said Bigweed, "Until the coast is clear."

I left Bigweed there in the storage closet as the feral snorks resume their psychological warfare upon him, I walked across the massive room to the door Bigweed pointed out. I noticed it was locked, but I heard someone screaming inside. "Let me out of here!" I heard Billy Bob's voice say, "I swear to Neptune, let me out!"

I unlocked the door and opened it, there was Billy Bob standing there like the dumbass I know and love, "Billy Bob?" I asked.

"Thank snork its you," he said, "After I recover from Celia's drug, I went all over Snorkland to look for you. Then I got a tip from a couple of feral snorks, well those feral snorks out there, that you're here. They saw you get taken away by Bigweed, by the way where is he?"

"Go away!" we heard him scream.

"Trapped in a storage closet," I answered, then I noticed the door next to Billy Bob, "Does that door leads to his office?"

"Yes," said Billy Bob, "Why?"

"He has the DVDs." I replied.

I walked up to the door and unlocked it, when I opened it I realized this was Bigweed's bedroom. There sat my backpack on his desk, I rushed up to it and opened it, all the DVDs were here but my flashlight was gone. "I knew you would find it." I heard the Great Snork Nork's voice say.

Me and Billy Bob turned and saw the Great Snork Nork hanging upside down at the corner of the room, he drops to the floor and turned upright as his fellow henchmen nears him. The Great Snork Nork didn't take away my pistol, so I pulled it out of my backpack and aimed it straight at him. "You stay where you are Count Snorkcula!" I warned, "Billy Bob, get out of here, I'll meet up with you outside."

"Its a bit dark outside!" he muttered.

"Go! I'll catch up with you later!" I told him again.

"Okay, fine." said Billy Bob.

As Billy Bob leaves the room, the Snork Nork spoke. "The Dark Presence needs you," he said as his feet touches the ground, "It needs your mind."

"Duh," I said, "It's been after me for 3 nights now."

"Correct," said the Snork Nork, "Do you think that you'll find Berry alive?"

I shudder, but thankfully I didn't have to answer that question, I caught sight of a dark cloud growing in the corner. So I grabbed my backpack and rushed out the door, then slammed it on the Great Snork Nork's smug face. "There you are," said the Great Snork Nork, "Now we must... wait, what are you doing? AHHHHHH!"

"The Dark Presence is a bitch!" I taunted him.

That was entertaining, but that was all the time I had for. The Dark Presence was inside the castle with me.

The ground shook, but I maintained my balance. The castle was a death trap, I gotta get out of here. I walked up to the door to the main room and saw poltergeist flying around in circles as dark shadows climb over the windows, small puddles of liquid darkness were also scattered all over the place. The main exit wasn't hard to find, its just at the far side of the wall.

I tried to swam towards it, but a couple of possessed bookshelves barred my way. Even though I don't have a flashlight, I do have a couple of flares left. So I pulled one out and lit it, I watched as the bookshelves try to resist the brightness of the flare. It went out, so I tried again. I got out another flare and lit it, this time the light destroyed the bookshelves and cleared the way out.

However it was locked, and the prison keys I have cannot unlocked it. As I ponder on what to do next, I caught sight of a poltergeist table in time and dodged out of the way as it hurls towards me. It slammed into the front doors and popped them open, ironic. I rushed over the the doors and ran out of them, just as the table blocks the doors.

I saw Billy Bob just over at the outside the gates of the castle, I rushed over to him as he calls out to me, "Radio!" he cried, "Look at the castle, oh my snork."

"Can you get this gate open?" I asked.

"No," I said, "You have to make it through the maze over there."

"I need a light Billy Bob." I said.

"Here," said Billy Bob, "Take my flashlight."

It was the same flashlight I gave to Billy Bob at Snorkland, as well as the same one I picked up at the rest area on my way over to the city. He handed it to me through the gate bars and I head off into the maze, "Careful!" he warned, "I saw movement in there!"

Just as I started the maze, the Taken spawned, they appear to be feral snorks from the Outback. "There y'all is!" one of them blurted out.

I aimed my flashlight at them and began to attack, I dodged a couple of knives as I stripped off their darkness armor one by one. I then fired my gun at them, and killed them successfully.

I kept going through the maze, encountering one or two Taken at a time. "They're trying to outflank you Radio!" I heard Billy Bob call out, "They're coming from all directions!"

That's when I began to hear a boss Taken, "Lil' Seaweed!" I heard him say, "DO YOUR CHORES!"

I stumble into a large area that is big enough for a battle, then the boss Taken revealed himself to be Bigweed. He came out of the corner, the shadows cover him and his eyes were also dark, he was also welding a battle ax. "Just another few more DROPS of the formula," Bigweed blabber in partial demonic tones, "And SNORKLAND will be MINE!"

Thankfully Bigweed doesn't run around at sonic speeds as the other bosses, he just march straight at me with his battle ax hi. I aimed my flashlight at him as he marches towards me, using his arm to shield the flashlight's beam from his eyes, "I never helped anybody" he blabbers, "I never had. So don't ASK me for HELP at ALL!"

Suddenly, schools of fish started to swarm at me, I tried killing the fish as they dive down from the heavens. Each time they try to ram their noses at me, if they have any, I point my flashlight at them and the swarm breaks up like confetti. I soon discovered that everytime I take the light off of Bigweed, his dark shroud regenerates.

So I kept the light on him and only turn the flashlight towards the fishes when they come near, "Don't talk back at me slave!" Bigweed continued to blabber, "Always RESPECT your MASTER!"

Bigweed's dark shroud soon flashes off, and then I shot many rounds into him. After a few more rounds, he roared and try to charge at me like a rhino. A final bullet however, made Bigweed burst into static and disappeared into nothing. "Call me weedkiller." I joke.

The schools of possessed fish stopped coming after me once Bigweed was defeated, which was relieving. Just as I was about to leave the area, I caught sight of a star cache tucked away in corridor. I rushed up to the star cache and discovered a light- sensitive message on the wall, "Don't trust Bigweed."

A great warning that came too late, wow. I searched the cache and found some flares, a flash-bang grenade, and handgun ammo. I stocked up and continued my way through the castle's maze garden.

More Taken showed up here and there, not as abundant as I thought they were. Despite this, I pushed through the maze and stumble upon another massive area where I saw Billy Bob behind a small gate. "Radio!" he cried.

"Can you get this smaller gate open?" I asked.

"I slammed it shut when the possessed snorks came after me," he said, "And I drop the key, somewhere."

"I have all the time in the world for you to go look for it." I reassured.

"Just hold them off as I find the key," said Billy Bob, "It gotta be around here somewhere."

"When snorks get tired, they get careless." I heard a Taken muttered behind me.

I turned around and saw numerous Taken coming after me, here comes another epic battle. I pulled out a flare and lit it, this held back all the Taken and pushed them as far back as possible. "Where is it?" Billy Bob asked himself, "Wait, no that's not it."

When the flare fizzled out, I pulled out another one. This time I stripped off the dark shrouds of the Taken and I proceed to gun them down. I shot one of them until he's dead, then fired at another as he through a wrench at me. I managed to dodge it as I the only flash-bang grenade at them, it went off and killed many of the Taken in the area. Just as I finished them off, another wave of Taken appeared.

"I found the key!" called out Billy Bob.

"Okay!" I replied.

I pulled out a flare and lit it, I dropped it at the gate just as Billy Bob managed to get it open. We ran to the car and hopped in as more Taken surrounded us, "Dinner boys!" one of the Taken yelled.

"Start it Billy Bob!" I cried as I shined my flashlight at one of the Taken.

Billy Bob turned on the headlights before he started up the car, this repelled some of the Taken as he started up the engine before flooring it. The dark shrouds of the Taken in front of the car were removed by the time Billy Bob ran them over, I looked back at Bigweed's castle and saw it submerged in darkness. "Yeehaw!" cheered Billy Bob as we drove away, "I never had this much fun in ages, after this sh#t is over you are going to build me a fireworks factory and I'm going to live in it!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

We continued driving down the road, getting a comfortable distance away from Bigweed's castle. In the meantime, I told Billy Bob my theories and facts of what was happening.

"They never had Berry," I told him, "They'd lied to me, the Dark Presence has her along. I think the Dark Presence is building an army of Taken in order to take over Snorkland, but that the entity's Plan B."

"Then what's the Dark Presence's Plan A?" asked Billy Bob.

"The Dark Presence needed my me. So instead of taking me over completely, it barely touched me. This had happen to Celia, whom the Dark Presence used in an effort to recapture me again."

"That makes sense, I don't know why she wasn't at school at the time but it does explain her odd behavior and her darkened house a lot. What do we do Radio?"

"We gotta get back to Snorkland and warn of the impending danger, even if it means jail time."

Just as we turned a corner, boulders dislodged up on top of a corral reef and tumbled down the road. It just so happens that we were driving at the edge of a cliff, Billy Bob saw the boulders to late. A boulder slammed at the side of the car and we were knocked off the cliff, we tumbled so fast that I was flung out of the vehicle and land on a ledge near the bottom. I wasn't injured, only dazed, so I carefully get back onto my feet and examined my surroundings.

I discover that I was overlooking some farmland, growing crops for snork consumption. There could be a place for me and Billy Bob to stay for the night, speaking of Billy Bob where is he?

"Billy Bob!" I called out over the edge, "Billy Bob Wetworth, where are you!"

"Radio!" I heard him echo, "You're okay, that is one drop. The car is thrashed, but I escape with being scratched!"

"Holy crap!" he soon cried, "Radio! There's something moving down here!"

"Planting crops in the sun!" blurted a Taken.

"Billy its a Taken!" I warned, "Use a flare!"

Billy Bob lit a flare and I heard the Taken die, "Billy Bob!" I called out to him, "Are you okay?"

"Never better friend," I heard him say, "I don't think you can get down, there appears to be an oceanic current between us. You'll have to find another way down, where should we meet up?"

I looked around and saw a farm house that doesn't seem far from here, "The farm house!" I called out to Billy Bob, "The house with the corral tiles, I'll meet with you up there!"

"Okay Radio," said Billy Bob, "Just be careful since I have your flashlight and gun down here. Oh, awhile you're up there, find something we can use!"

"I will!" I replied.

Great, no I don't have a flashlight nor a gun. Well these are farmlands, and it gets dark and dangerous out here. Maybe there might be a flashlight and a gun somewhere down in the farmlands, only one way to find out.

Swimming across the cliff face, I saw Billy Bob swim off to the nearby farmhouse below. There he goes, always winging it. I best catch up to him before he hurt himself, or others. But judging how he made to Bigweed's castle and get locked up on arrival, this was going to be interesting.

I managed to find my way down the cliff without getting swept away by the oceanic current. Its a small ramp leading to what appears to be a gate to someone's farm. As I approached it, the Dark Presence tried to bar my way again by possessing the gates. It just so happens that there was a tall outdoor lamp attached to an old generator, just across the gate. I wonder if the genny would work.

I approached the genarator and examined it, it appears to be a steam-powered generator that hadn't been used since the 1960's. Maybe I could get it to run again, so I pulled on the ignition cord a few times, against all odds the generator roared to life. The outdoor lamp it was wired to flickered to life almost instantly and was glowing brightly, but it wasn't in the position I wanted. I walked up to its pole and found a hand-cranked wheel, I grabbed it and twisted it in a certain direction and the lamp rotated along with the wheel. I managed to turn the outdoor lamp about 90 degrees and repositioned its light directly over the possessed gates.

The gates try to resist, but they burst into static and vanished anyway. At the moment where the gates disappeared, the lightbulb popped before the generator conked out. "Spooky." I comment, thinking the Dark Presence was responsible.

I made my way past the gap where the gates once stood and found what appears to be a small abandoned fort. I walked up the stairs and reached an open platform where I found a lit flashlight, sitting on a rotten table. Since the flashlight was on, it looked like it had been left there for me to use, a light-sensitive message on a wall that was being lit by the flashlight supported that theory. "Protect AllStar." the message reads.

I grabbed the flashlight, its light gave me a sense of security, a way to cast back the darkness pursuing me. I sensed movement in the darkened farmlands beyond, the Taken had spawned and were waiting for me. Without any conventional weapon whatsoever, I had not choice but to make my through the farmlands with no protection whatsoever.

Before I left, I survey the landscape for a place to head to. There were kelp growing in random locations, obscuring my vision. There's a nearby farmhouse appeared to be 10 meters away, the actual farmhouse where me and Billy Bob were suppose to meet up was 50 meters. The lights in both farmhouses weren't on, I doubt I could get them on due to the lack of electricity in this area. Maybe they have some sort of generator that powers the place, are the owners asleep or taken by the Dark Presence. There's only one way to find out.

I mustered up the courage and swam straight for the closest farmhouse, just half way there a couple of Taken came around the corner brandishing pitchforks and shovels. They were dressed as farmers, maybe they were the owners of the farmhouse. "Stay away from my daughter!" one of them screamed.

I shined my flashlight at them as I ran around them, they tried throwing stuff at me since I wouldn't let them get within reach. I quickly rushed up to the door, unlocked, so I opened the door and rushed inside before slamming the door behind me. I locked the door so I could slow them down, they could always get through the windows. Within a short period of time, I flicked a nearby lightswitch upward, nothing. So I frantically searched for the breaker box, I managed to find it not far from the door.

Just when I get its panel open, the Taken bust down the door behind me. They saw me and screamed gibberish, that's when I flip the main breaker to the on position. The light that I had turned on before came to life, it bathed the Taken underneath with light and they burst into static, and vanished. Relieved, I closed the breaker box and began to search for a gun in the house.

I hadn't found a gun, but I did find a Heavy-Duty flashlight and some lithium batteries. So I switched to the Heavy-Duty flashlight and put the weaker one inside by backpack, I caught sight of another DVD and took that as well. Before I left, I turned off the lights inside the house and turned on all the outdoor lights. I don't know why, I just had to for some reason.

I swam back out into the night and followed a road that would take me to Billy Bob, as I followed it I caught sight of a car being driven by someone, heading to the same direction I was. Transfixed on its headlights, I swam towards the car as I saw the car pull up to another farm house. I saw someone get out and hurried inside, it was another snork.

Excited to see another snork, I hurried my paste, even swimming past several Taken along the way. I had to find my way past several obstacles, like a barn. So far, I hadn't had much problem with the Taken despite my inability to fight them. When I got to the next farmhouse, I saw the car empty with its internal lights on. The farmhouse was also dark, I wonder who's inside.

So I rushed up to the front door and opened it, I stepped inside the house and closed the door behind me. "Hello?" I called out, "Is anyone home?"

I heard a snork scream, it sounded like it was coming from upstairs. "No!" the snork cried, "Please, I'm sorry! No! AHHH- ugh!"

I heard some glass break as I rushed up the stairs, dreading on what I might find. I opened the door to a bedroom and saw a snork lying bleeding on the ground, I instantly recognized him from the police station back in Snorkland. When he saw me, he didn't react in anyway. "Hey, I know you," I said, "You were in jail a few days ago."

"I never thought I would see you again," he said, "I was just trying to get moonshine when an old friend of mine attacked me, this is actually my house. We had an argument... but that wasn't my friend anymore, he plunged an ax into my stomach."

I examined his wounds, and discovered that its fatal, his time was clearly short. "It looks worse... than it feels." he muttered out, his words starting to become weak.

"I need a gun." I asked him, "You have one I could borrow?"

"There should be one around here, under the bed maybe..."

He stopped short and rested his head on the floor, "Tell Chief Robinson I'm sorry for my actions," he finally said, "Oh..."

The snork went silent and passes out from exsanguination, at least he didn't die alone like many of the Dark Presence's other victims.

He said there was suppose to be a gun underneath the bed, so I looked underneath and found what I was looking for. It was a SIR with the rifle mod, its just what I needed. I grabbed the rifle and I loaded it, now I have something to face the Taken with.

I gathered up as many ammo I could before leaving, but just as I head downstairs a Taken kicked the door open. "Farm animals aren't pets!" he blurted.

I shined my flashlight at him and removed his dark shroud, then I gunned him down. "That's for killing a snork." I said as I watch his body vanish.

With that over, I head outside and swam up to the car the snork had drove over here. This will take me to Billy Bob faster, assuming that I can find him alive and well. I started up the car and head down the road towards the farm, I was praying that I could find Billy Bob unharmed. As I drove, there were many Taken spawning in my path. The headlights of the vehicle stripped off their dark shrouds before I ran them over, I continued down the road and drove straight into a roadblock.

It was some sort of machinery blocking the road, it was impassable by vehicle. I was force to abandon the car and attempt to make my way past the machinery, suddenly it came alive by darkness and it try to crush me with its huge mechanical claw. I dodge out of the way in time and rushed off as I leave the poltergeist twitch in its foundation.

I found myself in this clear open field, then I saw what appeared to be a stage at the edge of it. And there was Billy Bob, examining the equipment at the stage. When I saw the stage, I was flabbergasted. Why would anyone build a rock concert style stage in the middle of nowhere? I rushed up to the stage, waving my flashlight around to catch Billy Bob's attention.

"Billy Bob!" I called out to him.

"Radio," he cried, "You've made it! What did you find?"

"A gun, a couple of flashlights, and a dying snork." I replied, "The snork happens to be the one who was jailed at the police station where you've picked me up at, he's dead now."

"Its a shame, whats more ironic is all this."

"I know, maybe we can get it to work."

Suddenly, numerous Taken spawned over the outskirts of the field, me and Billy Bob were ridiculously outnumbered. "Can you turn the stage on?" I asked.

"I'll try." said Billy Bob.

Billy Bob swam up to the stage controls and quickly fiddle around with it as I watch the Taken slowly approach, suddenly some of the lights came on and a lamp above Billy Bob bathed him in its glow. "There we go," he said, "Oh crap!"

Fireworks went off everywhere as music started to play, I was amazed at how well Billy Bob screwed up. "Wow!" I cheered, "Goddammit, I wish Berry was here to see this!"

"We gotta defend the stage," said Billy Bob, "Hold them off as I try to get the spotlights to work, I wonder why there were so many ammo stores all over the place."

I spotted a Heavy-Duty Lantern flashlight, I turned off my flashlight and stuck it into my backpack as I rushed up to the lantern flashlight and grabbed it. When I turned it on, it felt like I was holding a miniature searchlight in my hands. The Taken approach, I began to fight as I listen to the lyrics of the song playing, strangely it feels appropriate.

"_Warriors, torchbearers, come redeem our dreams!"  
>"Shine a light upon this night of otherworldly fiends!"<br>"Radio's might be your guide, divorce you from the sane!"  
>"Seaworthy's way will have its say, rise up in their name!"<em>

"_Oh, Memory and Thought!"  
>"Jet black and clawed!"<em>

"_Children of the Atom Bomb!"  
><em>_"Scourge of light upon the dark!"_

"_Scratching hag, you can rake your claws and gnash your crooked teeth!"  
>"You've taken slaves like ocean waves, now feel the ocean seethe!"<br>"AllStar, bless this war, between the dark and light!"  
>"In their songs let their wrongs bring dissolution's night!"<em>

"_Oh, Memory and Thought!"  
>"Jet black and clawed!"<em>

"_Children of the Atom Bomb!"  
>"Scourge of light upon the dark!"<em>

The song sounded like it was modified for me and AllStar, but who would do something for me? As I recall, one of the feral snorks back at Bigweed's castle was yelling some of the lyrics at Lil' Seaweed before smashing her head in with a sledgehammer. Maybe they had something to do with the song, I just don't know at this point.

Right now I was killing Taken from left to right as Billy Bob flashes rockets everywhere, they all came out of the ground and explode, annihilating any Taken nearby. Some of the Taken tried to get onto the stage, but I kicked them back and put them out of their misery. "Radio!" cried Billy Bob, "This could be the highest point of our lives! Although, I never expect it would turn out this way."

"They're trying to kill us," I said on the contrary, "That's the highest point of my life?"

"Its a dramatic final stand! Children of the Atom Bomb! URA!"

Suddenly fireworks went off all over the place when the song ends, then fireworks began to fire out of the ground as they head towards an old shed. When the last fireworks went off just right up to the shed, it exploded and released a nice mushroom cloud of black soot an ash up towards the surface. "URA!" cheered Billy Bob as the power at the stage goes out, "That was awesome!"

"Try to get that CD," I asked, "Maybe we'll use it for another time."

"Okay."

Billy Bob managed to get the CD out of the machine and placed it in an empty orange CD case that was sitting on the table, "Here you go," he said as he handed the disk to me, "Now lets get out of here."

I tucked the CD into my backpack before me and Billy Bob head towards the farmhouse, all we have to do is to get through a metal barn dividing us and the house. "I knew AllStar and the gang had their taste of rock n' roll," said Billy Bob, "Wait until this song plays into their ears!"

"I would imagine the excitement they would go through," I said, "As rouge snorks come after them with axes."

We both chuckled as we approach the barn door, "How do we get this open?" asked Billy Bob.

"Must be a switch somewhere." I replied.

I approach the barn door and pressed a switch on the side of it, the large barn doors opened, revealing random junk and props for rock concerts. I saw another door at the other side of the room, but there was no switch to activate it. I spot explosive barrels nearby, maybe they would help me get this door open. "Stand back Billy." I said as I rushed up to the barrels.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked.

"Watch." I insist.

I used all my strength to lift the red barrels and position them at the back door, Billy Bob's expression clearly shows that he had no idea what I was planning. "Okay," I said, "Get back."

Me and Billy Bob got to a safe distance as I held up my SIR and fired a round at one of the barrels, the barrels exploded and blown the barn door open, creating a massive maw in its place. "Nice thinking Radio!" cheered Billy.

That's when the Taken showed up, with their axes ready. "We get up at dawn and plant crops underneath the sun!" one of them blurted.

Me and Billy Bob held out our flashlights at the Taken and stripped off their darkness, then we gun them down. Once the way was clear, we made it through the barn and out the otherside. Suddenly I heard an unusual sound, flashbacks of Dimmy and Dr. Strangesnork came to mind, when I was fighting them they were running all over the place. I think there was a Taken going supersonic somewhere nearby, my suspicion was confirmed when he came running across the corner.

"Whoa!" cried Billy Bob, "He can move!"

The Taken sped out of the area as others come back him up, the farmhouse was now just a couple of meters away. We could see it from where we're at, so we made a break for it. We swam across the field towards the farm house, and it was quite a big field. Just as we were half-way across, we heard an engine roar to life. "What was that?" I asked.

There happened to be another barn nearby, something massive burst out of it like a battering ram. It was a harvester, and shadows clung to its steel body. Then more Taken showed up out of nowhere, me and Billy Bob have to work in a team if we are going to survive. "You take on the Taken as I try to disable the harvester!" I told Billy Bob.

"Whatever you say Seaworthy!" said Billy Bob.

"Just watch your back Wetworth." I replied.

I swam up to the harvester and trained my flashlight at its body as I hear Billy Bob take out the Taken, the harvester was after me and not him, it was constantly backing up and try to run me over. I stayed at the side of the harvester, then a stupid thought came to mind. Why not just swim over the damn thing and attack it?

I try to swim above the harvester, but the gust of an oceanic current kept me close to the ocean floor. There's no cheating here, I thought, Guess I have to do it the hard way.

I heard Billy Bob fire round after round as I kept my flashlight trained on the harvester, sparks were flying off of it as the light eats away at its protective dark shroud. After a few minutes, I realized I had flares on me. So I pulled one out, lit it, and throw it into the harvester's crop bin. Suddenly it burst into static and disappears as the sound of its engine dying echos through the air, Billy Bob had just finished off killing the Taken as me and him regroup.

"I wanna go inside now," he complained, "I'm tired, and the sky is becoming more black by the passing minute."

"I am too." I said, "Race you."

We didn't really race, it was just a mad dash to the farmhouse. When we reached the front door, I opened it and me and Billy Bob rushed in. I shut and locked the door behind me, thinking that someone might be following us. "Where's the distribution board?" asked Billy Bob, surprised he knows the real name for the breaker box, "We gotta turn the lights on."

"Could be nearby," I said, "Oh, hear it is."

I rushed up to the breaker box and opened it up, then I turned on the main switch. The whole house instantly light up when I do so, turning the place into a safe haven. "We gotta make sure everything is locked up tight for the night," I said, "Turn on all the outdoor lights and check the latches on the windows as I investigate upstairs."

"Okay." said Billy Bob.

I swam upstairs and opened all the doors leading to individual rooms, found many of the prophet DVDs inside them. I checked all the windows to make sure they're lock, turns out they were. I also turned on the lights in the bedrooms, just for added security. "This place must be well lived in," said Billy Bob as I came walking down the stairs, "I wonder who owns this place."

"We'll sleep in the den," I said, "Or wherever there is a nice and warm steam-powered radiator."

"The lights are on outside," said Billy Bob, "Are we safe now?"

"As long as the lights are on," I said as I turned off my lantern flashlight, "The Dark Presence needs to rest sometimes."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

As we walked into the den, we found two couches facing each other with a steam-powered radiator at the wall. There was also a small stage with rock n` roll drums and guitars, me and Billy Bob shut all the doors and turned off all the lights, letting the steam-powered radiator glow. I sat down on the couch and sat my lantern flashlight on the table, I took off my backpack and sat that down with my gun. "What a night." I said, "I'll never look at light fixtures ever again."

"Morning is hours away," said Billy Bob as he held up two brown jugs, "I saw we party, and by party, I mean drunk."

I'm too young to drink, but that never stopped me at times. "Billy..." I said, until I gave up, "Well the Dark Presence can't touch me when I'm drunk."

Billy Bob handed me a jug and we both drank moonshine for about a couple of hours, there happened to be a corner with enough moonshine bottles to last weeks. It took awhile for my senses to dull and my judgment to deteriorate, soon the effects of alcohol made me slip into a stupor. Me and Billy Bob were laughing at, whatever, cracking jokes about the Dark Presence, even taunting it.

I actually got up and walked over to a window, opened it, and screamed out of it at the top of my longs, "You can't get me awhile I'm drunk," I taunt at the Dark Presence, assuming that its listening to me, "Cause I'm intoxicated, and if you capture me then you get intoxicated too. You know what happens when you loose common sense and that other sh#t, ha! You hear me Dark Presence! You hear me Taken! You'll feel my wrath when the time comes, you won't come looking for me, I'll be looking for you! So f#ck youuu!"

After I finished, I stepped back and closed the window as me and Billy Bob were laughing. "You're going to get it now!" he cracked.

"I'm probably screwed either way," I muttered as I relocked the window and hopped back into the couch, "Oh god..."

Suddenly the happiness was replaced by sadness, "I miss her Billy Bob," I sob, "Berry, she's probably trapped in a cold, dark, place. No telling what the Dark Presence is doing to her, she's probably screaming for help."

"I'm sorry about Berry," said Billy Bob as he gets up off the other couch and approach me, "Know that you didn't loose everything, you got a father who loves you and many friends that the eye can see. You have all of Snorkland giving you their support, you have me supporting you as well. And... Rex..."

"I would trade it all for Berry," I muttered, "I just can't live without her, I don't wanna wind up as an asshole like Junior, I gotta get her back."

"You'll get her back," said Billy Bob, "You're a Seaworthy, a Seaworthy never quits."

"You sounded like Gallio." I chuckled, "Oh I think he's in jail now because of me, Strangesnork is also dead. Grandpa probably in the hospital, and AllStar, sh#t, AllStar doesn't know what to make of the situation. I just realized how badly I treated him throughout my short life... and I just saw a message saying to protect him?"

"What message?"

"A message written in light-sensitive paint, the paint looks very cool."

"Hey, you have something new for the workers to make back in The Outback. There's something positive your getting out of this situation."

"It would be better if people hear my story."

"You should write a book about it, explain your situation in it, and stuff..."

Billy Bob stumbled back and placed his hand on his head, "Oh I think I gotta sleep now." he said has he sat down on the floor, "Night night."

"Goodnight." I chuckled. "Don't let the Taken's ax chop your snorks off."

We both laughed and sang the song we listened to hours before, then we dozed off into a drunken sleep.

Something strange happened in my sleep, I had a dream taking me back to the night where the nightmare I was facing began. I was an out of body observer in this dream, it was a flashback, the night where I got into an argument with Berry seconds before she disappeared. There I was, behind the boulder trying to collect my thoughts after I left Berry in the dark. Then I heard her scream, "Radio! Help!

"Berry!" I cried, "Don't worry. I'm coming!"

I came around the corner and discovered that she was gone, then I saw the liquid darkness of puddle and thought I saw her outline in it. "Oh no!" I cried before jumping into the large puddle of tar as a frightened Rex ran off for help, and that was all that I remembered. Thanks to the moonshine, the missing week was finally revealing itself.

I saw myself came out of the puddle, drenched in the stuff. "Berry!" I sobbed, I must have given up looking for her, "No. Berrry!"

I laid there crying for a few minutes, thinking that she's probably dead. Suddenly an entity the form of a snork approached me, wearing a mourning gown. I looked up and saw her lend her hand to me, she helped me back up to my feet.

"Come," she said in a cold lifeless tone, "We have work to do."

I remained silent as I followed her south, I watched the way I walked and it looked frightening. She had touched me, I'm now under her control. Just like Celia who drugged me days ago.

The snork brought me to this weird looking complex, somewhere at the border of The Outback. There, I was guided into a large warehouse room. "Here," she said, "Its all your fault, you killed Berry. All she done was to help you."

"No!" I sobbed and nearly cried again.

"There is a way for you to bring her back," said the snork, "All you have to do is build a machine that can control the universe using Quantum Mechanics."

"Yes," I said with an emotionless tone, "I'll build it, I'll bring her back."

The witch tricked me into building a machine that could write the future, I watched myself build the machine for the entire night. It looked similar to what Dr. Gallio was building but it was black. It was the size of a snork's refridgerator, maybe even made from one. The screen was an old CRT design and the QWERTY keyboard looked yellow and old, it wasn't perfect but it was good enough for the Dark Presence.

I just finished building the machine when morning comes, however blackout curtains were covering the windows. The snork just stood there and watch me build the machine the whole time, when I finished she had me turn on the machine. "In these compact disks," she said as she held a few of them, "You'll encode the future to anything you want, and only your mind could access this machine."

"Its a complex brain isn't it?" I asked, still in my zombie state.

"Yes," she said, "Now get to work, Berry could be waiting for you."

"Berry! Yes I must! I must!"

One disk after another, I encoded the future of what will happen. I had them all marked, numbered, and stored in individual orange casings. I had each scenario programmed in the machine's terminal computer and had it all encoded onto the disk, I took notes each time I made a disk. "I think I am going somewhere," I said to myself insanely, "Berry will come back, she will!"

Days past as I sat there encoding programs, I hadn't ate anything and I starting to show signs of starvation. My cheeks were starting to sink in, it was horrible. Just as the snork was away, a malfunction occurred in the machine. I was just about to make the final disk when a flash of light came from the machine and lit the warehouse brightly, frightened I ran out of the warehouse and hopped into a random car.

It was night, and the bright light temporally blinded me. It was hard for me to focus on the road, and after I got a few meters I crashed, just right up on the side of the cliff. I smashed my skull against the steering wheel of the automobile, and I blacked out.

"Oh crap," I muttered, "I did it, that witch."

"Of course you've done it," I heard Wetworth's voice, "And now I finally have you."

I opened my eyes and saw Governor Wetworth standing before me with Chief Robinson and Corky nearby, it was morning as light was pouring through the windows. I remembered what I must do, and in order to get back to Snorkland I must surrender to Wetworth. I held my hands up slowly, still dazed from the moonshine I drank. "You have the right to remain silent." said Chief Robinson as he grabbed my wrist and slap the handcuffs on them, "Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?"

"That is what one of your officers said as they try to lodge an ax into my head." I said to him, "Though he skipped most of it and only said the first and last parts."

"What?" he asked.

"The night where I started running," I told him, "You want evidence, I have it all, guilty as charged."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

Turns out they had tracked me down by homing in on my satellite phone, Chief Robinson was explaining how they've done it as he drives us back to the police station. I just sat there listening to every word he says as Billy Bob continues to sleep off the moonshine next to me. I don't mind being in the back of a squad car on my way to jail, I just want to warn my friends of the impending danger. "You seemed quiet today Radio," said Corky who was sitting with me in the back.

"He has the right to remain silent." chuckled Governor Wetworth sitting up front, "He's not going to say anything to you."

"You have no idea what the kid had been through last night," noted Corky, "We found him with a gun by his side, it was obviously well used."

"And an illegal substance," added Chief Robinson, "Moonshine is illegal because it cannot be tax by the government."

"Radio made it illegal," said Governor Wetworth, "How many snorks had you catch in possession of moonshine anyway?"

"About three times a month, usually the same snork, who claims to be related to you. I believe that was Billy Bob."

"This is going to cost me re-election, luckily the media hasn't noticed it yet."

Re-election will be the least of your concerns when night falls Governor, I thought, You selfish prick.

"I'm surprised Radio stayed within the city limits," said Chief Robinson, "He usually gets south when in trouble with the law."

"His sister is missing," said Corky, "He can't leave because he's looking for her, why are we arresting him anyway?"

"Multiple accounts of destruction of public and private property," said Governor Wetworth, "Multiple accounts of assault on a government official, me of course, use of a deadly weapon, resisting arrest..."

That was quite a long list, I couldn't seem to argue any of it. Suddenly Governor Wetworth opened the glove compartment and found something, "Hey," he said as he held up an orange CD case, "What's this?"

"I don't know," said Chief Robinson, "I don't know how that got there, I don't recall being given that disk."

"Its a music disk," said Governor Wetworth, "You mind if I play it?"

"Not at all Governor."

I didn't bother telling them what the disk really was, I don't even know what it contains. The disk only had a number on it, number 72. Governor Wetworth opened the case and pulled out the disk before inserting it into the squad car's CD player. When it played, everything became more surreal. The CD was replaying the conversation in the car, word for word, from everybody's voices including Billy Bob's quiet snoring. The look on Wetworth's face was priceless.

After a minute or two, the disk began to play something else. _"Well, well Praisely Shellfish,"_ taunted Governor Wetworth's voice on the CD, _"Here it is, all the evidence, including a conspiracy to murder a government official."_

Then I heard Junior's voice rubbed it in, suddenly a punch was heard. I heard my self yelling death threats at what appears to be Junior, then the sound of guns were being drawn and an argument occurred by many snorks as Governor Wetworth pleads for his son's life. Just when it sounded like he was going to kill me, Governor Wetworth stopped short and said, _"Wait a sec, I know this."_

Suddenly he screamed, as Junior sounded like he was trying to save him. It sounded like they were violently being sucked right into something. The sound of a door slamming shut was made, the disk ends with the roar of the Dark Presence. Terrified by what he had heard, Governor Wetworth quickly pushes the stop button on the squad car's CD player.

"What was that?" asked Corky.

I don't know what to make of this," said Governor Wetworth, "I'll maybe have Dr. Gallio at the prison analyze this. Wait a minute, there's more CD's like this in Radio's backpack. All of them had an identical cover and CD brand with random titles and orderly numbers, these could be the evidence I need to prosecute Radio. You hear that green rodent?I have you by the cross-hairs!"

Governor Wetworth had confiscated my backpack, I see he was looking inside of it at the moment. "Snork there's a lot of them," he comment, "There are a lot of flares in here as well."

"Once we get to the station, we are going to analyze each and every one and get a case straightened out," said Chief Robinson, "The high court might be interested in Radio anyway for other things, like the Neuroctopus Invasion and a viral pandemic that occurred months ago. I just don't see how he's going to get himself out of this one."

When we got to the station, Governor Wetworth had me thrown into the police station's prison cell, Billy Bob was placed in the same cell as me, still he slept and hadn't woke up once.

I was craving food, I sat there on the prison cot thinking of reefburgers. Corky was nice enough to lend me one. Despite wanting more, I decide not to try this generosity. It took me awhile to notice Dr. Gallio was in the cell next to me, since I wasn't paying attention when I first came in and he was sleeping at the time.

When Dr. Gallio finally woke up, I called out his name. "Radio?" he asked, "Oh Neptune its you!"

"Yes Gallio," I replied, "Its me, so why did they imprisoned you?"

"I was accused of helping you escape," he said, "And I was yelling at the Governor for shooting guns at my lab and breaking my windows."

"You didn't help me escape," I noted, "I didn't even told you where I was going."

"That's the thing, but still they won't let me go. They wouldn't let me call anybody, no only phone call, nothing."

"Who's they?"

"Governor Wetworth, he had Chief Robinson and Corky following his orders. Its a nightmare he's causing, I don't blame the two though."

"Have you heard of anything on the news Gallio?"

"The Snorkland steam plant has been disabled and AllStar's father was found injured underneath a streetlight, the police were convinced that there was no way for him to make it out alone. He wouldn't say what had happened to the employees working at the plant, since the police hasn't found a single body underneath the rubble. Due to the lost of the steam plant, all of Snorkland is running off of the emergency power reserved for the second time since the Source was cut off from Snorkland."

"I could divert power from my nuclear power plant to Snorkland, but only I can make that call. Since I am no in jail, I don't see that happening anytime soon. By the way, have you heard from AllStar?"

"No, I don't know if he even knows of our situation."

"He's gotta find out sooner or later, he gotta."

I waited for a few more hours, just around 3:30PM someone came into the prison cell. It was Corky.

"Radio?" he said, "You have some visitors."

To my relief, AllStar, Tooter, Daffney, and Casey appeared into the room. "AllStar?" asked Dr. Gallio.

"Uncle Gallio?" asked AllStar, "Why are you in jail?"

"Governor Wetworth," he said, "I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, Radio can explain everything."

"I have to ask AllStar," I said, "Are you here to collect my sorry ass out of jail?"

"I heard you have been captured," explained AllStar, "So I came here to find you."

"You poor thing." said Casey.

"Wah wah." tooted Tooter sadly.

I started crying, this upset AllStar and made him walk right up to the bars. "What's wrong Radio?" he asked.

I ran up to him, grabbed him, and hugged him between the cell bars, "I didn't know what I really had until it was gone," I cried, "I'm sorry for not contacting you for months, I'm sorry for neglecting you for even longer than that, and I'm sorry for not meaning it in the first place. Berry is gone and I'm stuck in a nightmare, I don't know what to do anymore!"

"You've been through a lot alright," said AllStar, "I heard Junior shot you, were you hurt?"

"Yes," I muttered, "But that's the least of my concerns, as I found out who's responsible for the snork disappearances."

"Who?" asked Daffney.

I released AllStar and stepped back, "It may sound insane, but its all true. I've seen how it takes control of snorks, I've seen how it controls inanimate objects, I even seen what it did to Dimmy."

"What happened to Dimmy?" asked AllStar.

"He was possessed by the Dark Presence, an entity that rules the night, wanting to claim Snorkland for its own. And it has already wiped out most of its competitors, such as Dr. Strangesnork."

"My brother?" Dr. Gallio asked.

"He too fell victim to the Dark Presence," I explained, "I cannot describe the horror I had just witness, but the DVDs I keep finding will explain what really happened."

"What do you need us to do Radio?" I asked.

"Get your parents over here," I explain, "Tell them its dire and all of Snorkland depends on it, tell them I sent you. Also, try to find reliable flashlights and batteries from stores or homes. We're going to need them if we are going to fight this thing."

"I don't know what happened to you Radio but I understand why you hadn't told us after Berry disappeared, the Governor was on to you all along."

"And he's going to kill me when he gets the chance, get your parents and some flashlights and return within 2 hours. Corky? Can you set up a room where we can view whats on the disk?"

"I have to get permission from Chief Robinson but yeah." said Corky.

"I still have your POV camera Radio," I said, "Kept it safe from the Governor."

"Note that we might be being watched by Governor Wetworth or Junior, so best get here before 5 if there's enough time available."

"Sounds like a plan Radio." said AllStar.

"Its the best I had come up with in a long time." I comment, "I also saved your dad's life from the Dark Presence, so it might be easy for you to get your folks here than your friends."

"I'll do it Radio," said AllStar, "For you."

"Not for me AllStar," I said, "For Berry."

"Let's do this then." said Casey, "I'll try to get Jo-Jo to help us, we're going to need his muscle."

"Get all the help you can," I advised, "Snorkland is counting on you."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

I waited for AllStar and his friends to return with the needed supplies, I kept looking at my window cell just to make sure the sun hadn't went down yet. After just 30 minutes, AllStar returned with his folks. Mr. Seaworthy had been patched up and was able to walk, Mrs. Seaworthy held SmallStar in her arms as they approached. "I heard its urgent," said Mr. Seaworthy, "What's up Radio?"

"What the Dark Presence had done to the Steam Plant will do to all of Snorkland," I said, "I need to get all the resources I could get my hands on."

"What about the Governor?" he asked, "Will he help?"

"If he were," I said, "I wouldn't be in jail."

"You were depicted on the news as a criminal," said Mr. Seaworthy, "Or that's what the Governor says you were, you didn't seem to do anything wrong."

"I dumped garbage on him just a few minutes after our little family reunion," I replied as I cracked a smile, "He has the right and reason to do so, but I have enough supporters to calm the masses."

Suddenly Billy Bob stirred and woke up, "Radio?" he asked, "Are we in jail?"

"Yes Billy Bob." I grunt.

"I knew this would come," he said, "You have a plan on getting out?"

"Most of my family is here," I said, "Well, not Strangesnork."

He sat up and saw AllStar and his parents, "I can't believe my cousin left me to rot," he said, "What I ever do to him?"

"Nothing," I said, "But we'll soon get out."

Corky came by with the keys and unlocked the cell door, when he opened it AllStar rushed in and we both hugged. "Chief Robinson might be a frenemy," I noted, "Once Wetworth is pulled out of the equation, he'll join us."

That's when Casey swam right into the room, "Everybody's here," she said, "I even got Dimmy's parents to come, including Jo-Jo."

"Great," I said, "Let's meet up with them."

"Is everybody forgetting something?" asked Dr. Gallio.

"Oh," said Corky, "Sorry, follow me."

We followed Corky out of the prison quarters and into what appears to be a large conference room filled with chairs, Tooter, Daffney, Jo-Jo, and most of everyone's parents were seated in the chairs, Occy and Rex were sitting on the floor near the TV. I saw Dimmy's parents sitting in the front rows. "I can't get my parent's to come Radio," said Daffney, "But they let me come though."

"Okay Daffney." I said.

I reached into my pants and pulled out a few DVD disks, "Luckily I managed to save some disks from the Governor," I said, "These are the most important disks, that would hopefully give you an understanding on what is happening."

"What are they?" asked AllStar.

"DVDs that seemed to tell the future," I said, "But these are the disks of events that already happened, observe."

As everyone took a seat, I approached the TV and opened the DVD player, "I have to warn you snorks," I told them, "What are you about to see is true, and can get quite disturbing. There is also some music appropriate for each scenes, just to let you know."

Turns out the DVD player can hold 4 DVDs at once and play them one by one, and I do have 4 DVDs I managed to save from Governor Wetworth. I placed all 4 DVDs into the DVD player and closed the loading bay, some of the lights were dimmed to make it easier to see. I took my seat in the front row, right next to AllStar.

The first disk to play was the "Dimmy Taken" one, when it played we saw Dimmy at his house doing chores. "We weren't home at the time," said Mr. Finster," He said he'll be alright but..."

Just as Dimmy puts the last dish back into the cupboard the lights suddenly went out, he turned around and his face was instantly filled with fright. His brain was trying to process the horror he was seeing, he was stammering in fear like a deer in the headlights. The scene soon cuts outside the home and we heard him scream, followed by the roar of the Dark Presence. I sense the anxiety in the room, then the next disk plays.

It was back at the rest stop, there I was stumbling in, trying to look for help. Then there was Dimmy rambling in partial demonic tones as I approach him from behind, I was trying to call for help but saw the snork he had killed with the ax. "Dimmy Finster," he muttered, "Please to meet you."

He ran out of the area, all in awhile making jokes. I explained to everyone it was due to dead nerve twitches, and that Dimmy's conscience and self-awareness was long gone. I watch myself ran though the maze, and its when I made it to the door of the rest area where the camera moved back to Dimmy, showing him jumping off of the truck he was standing on and try to chop me with his ax, that part of the scene was shown in slow motion which make it look cool.

When I ran to the rest area, I slammed the door shut and the ax head came through the door. It was in an angle where the ax head took up most of the screen, I think everyone was frightened about it. After the parts where I found the flashlight and gun and the entire rest area tried to collapse, I fought the Taken for the first time. After showing some trial and error, I shined my flashlight at the Taken, removed their darkness, and killed them.

The scene soon fades into a new one, the part where I finally get to fight Dimmy. First I fired a round at a flare gun, the moment was also in slow motion as everyone watch the flare shoot across the area and explode in the Taken's faces. Dimmy survives and did the supersonic moves across the area as I tried to get the flashlight's beam focused on him, soon his protective darkness flashed off and I gunned him down. The moment he dies happened in brief slow motion, before his body vanishes completely.

Dimmy's parents began to cry, with the knowledge of their son's fate. They soon stopped when it got to the next disk, the part where Dr. Strangesnork was attacked and possessed by the Dark Presence. Just seeing Dr. Strangesnork lay there in a pool of blood made Dr. Gallio tear up a bit. Just after I went to go check on the breaker box, only to find it destroyed, Dr. Strangesnork was attacked by the Dark Presence again.

After fighting my way past a few Taken, I investigated what happened to Dr. Strangesnork and stumbled outside the massive maw in the wall. There Dr. Strangesnork was, a Taken. And after a short fight, his dark protective shroud was removed and he was gunned down. His moment of death also in slow-mo. The scene soon changed to the part where there were schools of fish swimming overhead of AllStar's house, it was spectacular seeing the flares go off in the school, killing them in small burst of static.

That scene was quick though, and it ends with everyone inside of AllStar's house wide awake.

The final disk was Bigweed's castle, where I have to fight my way past poltergeist objects. They even saw me fight a Taken Bigweed, and more schools of fish. It was quick though, and it ended with Bigweed's death in slow-mo.

It actually took a long time to watch all 4 disks, I just explain parts of it, I wasn't in the mood to explain all those scenes again. It took a couple of hours watching the movies, many parts were surprisingly long and frightening. When the disks finished playing, Corky returned the lights to full brightness. "You have to deal with all this awhile keeping it hidden from us?" asked Dr. Gallio.

"If I told you right away," I explained, "You'll assume that I'm insane, this is the kind of stuff people were put in padded cells for."

"This is how I found myself in an insane asylum," said Billy Bob, "Radio did the right thing by not telling you until the time is right, you saw my reaction when I wasn't ready to learn what's really happening."

"All those snorks who have gone missing in the past few months will be sent against us as Taken," I said, "The Dark Presence went through all this just to raise an army to take on Snorkland, and it needs me to do it. The witch took my sister and simply touched me, it needed my mind, so the Dark Presence tricked me into building a machine that manipulates the future. The Dark Presence said it would bring Berry back, but I was nowhere close. A malfunction of the machine freed me from the entity's grasp, I tried to escape by car but I crashed it. And that is how my nightmare began."

"The Dark Presence made you do all this." said AllStar.

"Yes," I said, "And it went through the trouble to try to re-capture me, now its done trying to reclaim me. It knows that only I can operate that machine, and so by killing me it paves the way for Snorkland to be conquered. I die, Snorkland and all of its inhabitants follows, this means all of you."

"What is going on here?" I heard a voice.

Everyone turned near the door and saw Chief Robinson standing there near the door leading to outside, everyone stood up as I got up and swam to some clear space between Chief Robinson and the party behind me. Governor Wetworth soon came into the room, looking quite satisfied, "Well, well Praisely Shellfish," taunted the Governor as he held up some of the orange DVDs, "Here it is, all the evidence, including a conspiracy to murder a government official."

Junior showed up and started to rub it in, "Yes," he taunt, "We got you now, Radioactive!"

My temper has been sparked, and just when Junior gets near me, I clenched my hand into a fist and punched him hard in the face. He slammed hard against the wall, just as his rear hits the floor I grabbed him by the neck and raised him to a point where his feet couldn't touch the floor. "I have enough of your b#tching!" I cursed at Junior, "I should have had Rex killed you when he had the chance!"

"Whoa," said Chief Robinson as he pulls out a gun, "Hold it right there."

That's when Corky got up and also pulled out a gun, "Not so fast Chief," he said, "We need Radio alive."

Rex and Occy swam in front of me, getting into a position where they would pounce on the Governor and Chief of Police. "Radio," said Governor Wetworth, "Put my son down, we can talk this over."

"You had all that time to talk to me," I noted, "But all you did was taking potshots at me and my family members, I would take my chances and surrender but judging the way on how you lost your sanity, that's just not going to happen."

Junior was running out of oxygen, we was struggling to breathe. "Put him down Radio!" ordered Chief Robinson.

"And let the Governor use you as his puppet?" I asked, "What good did he ever do to you despite assigning you to your job? You were the one who gave me your gun right before you left Dr. Gallio's lab."

"You did what?" asked the Governor.

"Sure, shoot me." I said, "Just what Junior did when Wetworth was chasing me, got me right in the arm with an SIR."

"You shot him!" asked AllStar in surprise.

"No," Junior croaked, but I tightened my grip and he pleaded guilty, "Okay, I did, I did!"

I let go of Junior and dropped him to the floor, Rex and Occy stepped aside as Junior rushed up to Governor Wetworth in a hurry. After a short pause, something happened. A massive headache hit me with the force of a train, I grabbed my head as I collapsed onto the ground. "Aw snork." cursed Chief Robinson as he puts away his gun.

"Radio!" cried AllStar as he and Chief Robinson came to my aid.

"He's faking it!" rant Governor Wetworth.

"I had enough of you and your son's attitude!" barked Chief Robinson, "Radio, I'll trust you on this!"

Just as they helped me back up to my feet, Governor Wetworth pulled out his gun and aimed it straight at me. "Get back to your cell Seaworthy!" he demanded.

"Go ahead," I dared him, "Shoot me, and be accused of murdering a juvenile. It doesn't matter if it's self-defense, all of Snorkland will force you resign as Governor regardless."

"Over my dead body I will-"

Suddenly he stopped, he looked like he had remembered something. "Wait a sec," he said as he held down his gun and pulled out DVD number 72 and stared at it, "I know this."

Caught in the midst of déjà vu, the Dark Presence made its move. It opened the door leading to the outside and stuck out a cloud and grabbed the Governor, he screamed as he was dragged out into the night. "Dad!" cried Junior as he went after him. The door slams as we both heard both Wellington Wetworths scream as the roar of the Dark Presence drown them out, then all went silent.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

"Oh my snork!" cried Chief Robinson, realizing how close he was to the Governor when he got sucked into the night, "What was that?"

"The Dark Presence," I said as I picked up the disk the Governor dropped, "Light is the only way we are going to fight this thing."

"Your stuff is in my office," said Chief Robinson, "I can open the weapons vault and arm everybody here."

Suddenly the lights went out and the whole place went dark, anyone who had a flashlight on them got them out and turned them on. "The Snorkland emergency power reserves has been depleted." announced Mr. Seaworthy.

"Can we get the station's backup generators up and running?" I asked.

"Yes." said Chief Robinson, "Follow me."

Me and AllStar followed Chief Robinson out of the room and across the police station where he walked up to the breaker box and flipped a switch, power was restored in the station immediately. "Where do we need to go?" he asked.

"The very spot where my nightmare began," I said, "Its south of Snorkland, there is this giant tar puddle. My sister is trapped beneath it, we gotta go fish her out."

"Are you sure she's alive?"

"If she wasn't then I wouldn't be either, I tried to dive in to save her but the Dark Presence touched me before I reached her."

"What happened to you back there?" asked AllStar, "Why did you collapse?"

"The Dark Presence had touch me," I said, "There will always be a link between us."

Chief Robinson walked to his office as we followed him inside, I managed to get my backpack of DVDs back and a Heavy-Duty lantern flashlight. We then head to the weapons vault and grabbed some pistols and long barreled weapons, then we head back to the conference room and hand everybody a gun. "We got a child here," said Mrs. Seaworthy, "Can we stay?"

"I can watch over her," said Billy Bob, "I could stay behind and warn the populace about what's happening, I'm good at convincing people at doing something."

"You couldn't even convince me of making a new invention." I noted.

"Except you." added Billy Bob.

"The Dark Presence will soon muster the strength to knock out those generators," I noted, "Billy Bob, warn as many snorks as you can until the lights go out, then come find us. I'll see that you get a vacation for once after this."

"Okay Radio," said Billy Bob, "I'll see what I can do."

Mrs. Seaworthy handed SmallStar to Billy Bob as everyone heads to the lobby, as Billy Bob heads behind the help desk to warn Snorkland we all head out the front door. Snorkland was dark and dead, not a single artificial light except the police station was glowing. "We head south," AllStar, "Which way is exactly south?"

"That way," I said pointing away from the police station, "Shouldn't be that difficult."

As we ran down the street, the currents began to blow and the shadows began to move. "I don't like this." said Daffney.

"I don't recall shadows move." said Jo-Jo.

"Radio?" asked Casey, "What is happening?"

"The Dark Presence is preparing to attack," I said, "Keep an eye out on the darkness."

That's when the Taken showed themselves, in massive numbers. They were a combination of police officers and low-lifes, and they were brandishing axes, "You have the right to remain silent," said one of the police Taken, "Do you understand these rights?"

"Whoa that's a lot of them." I comment, "And see Chief Robinson, this is what I was talking about. They don't finish explaining the Miranda rights."

We all shined our flashlights at the Taken, after a few seconds their dark shrouds flashed off and we gunned them down easily. "They like vanished," said Mr. Shelby, "Honk. Without a trace."

"Well at least you don't have to worry about cleaning up." I said, "The Dark Presence is going to throw everything its got at us, keep an eye on all inanimate objects as they could spring to life and attack you."

"How big will the poltergeist be?" asked George.

"Huge," I said, "Like a truck or bulldozer."

"Oh snork." he muttered.

"I just have to ask what had happened to Governor Wetworth," said Dr. Gallio, "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," I said, "Maybe a Taken perhaps?"

We swam through the streets using our snorks, that's when we began to hear unusual demonic distorted quotes echoing through the waters. "As your future GOVERNOR!" it said, "There will always be something for someone, SOMEONE FOR SOMEONE, and someone for SOMETHING! Everybody gets a fair share of EVERYTHING!"

"We got ourselves a boss to fight guys," I warned, "Albeit a possessed Junior."

"That does sound like Junior but," said Daffney, "Where is he?"

Something zipped by at us at a ridiculously fast pace, its impossible to focus on it. "Maybe that's him." said Jo-Jo.

"Uh-oh." tooted Tooter.

More Taken showed themselves up ahead, "The graveyard shift may cause cancer!" one of the Taken rambled, "We rotate periodically per shift!"

We took them out a little quicker than last time, seems that everybody is getting a hang of it now. "This is scarey!" cried Daffney. I guess not.

She ducked as a Taken thrown a knife at her, the blade lodged itself into the outer wall of a random building. "Oh my starfish!" she cried.

After killing off the Taken, we took a turn and caught sight of someone jumping from rooftop to rooftop. "Low taxes for everybody." there goes Junior's voice again, "I'll do that during my FIRST DAY IN OFFICE!"

"That's definitely Junior alright." said AllStar.

"I should have brought over the Snork Patrol sub when I had the chance," said Corky, "I had rig it with a powerful spotlight."

"Was the spotlight designed by me?" I asked.

"Yup, and you did a really swell job in manufacturing it."

"That would be the feral snorks, I took no part in putting it together. I'll tell them your thanks once I get back home."

We heard screaming, followed by the roar of the Dark Presence. It sounded like it came from a nearby apartment building, I soon realize the truth. "The Dark Presence is possessing snorks as they sleep." I noted, "Billy Bob better warn more snorks!"

Once we near the apartment building, the Taken spawned in front of us. This time they appear to be ordinary snorks from everyday life, and they were screaming gibberish at us. For some reason, they were easy to eliminate. It just took a brief second to remove their dark shrouds and a single gunshot to kill them, soon they were all eliminated. "For some reason all the Taken were male." said Casey.

"The Dark Presence is female," I noted, "Maybe she's boy crazy."

"At least you still have your humor Radio."

"You should have seen me when I was drunk, I spend a part of last night cursing at the Dark Presence."

"What happened to Celia when you and Billy Bob were at her house?" asked Chief Robinson suddenly, "She's was rambling in an emotionless tone about cheerleading and boys."

"I think that's what happened to me before all this happened." I said.

"The missing week you can't remember?"

"Oh I remember now, thanks to the moonshine."

We took another turn and found ourselves pushing through a suburban neighborhood, and it looked familiar. "I think my house is somewhere near here." said Daffney, "There it is."

She pointed to her home across the street, "You could barely recognize your own neighborhood Daffney?" asked AllStar.

"Its difficult to recognize everything with all the lights off," she explains, "I gotta know if my folks are okay."

We followed Daffney up to her house, just as we get to her front yard her front door burst open and a Taken stepped out, wielding a chainsaw. "Beware the Snork-Eater!" it screamed. "Dad?" cried Daffney.

The Taken's skin was the same color as Daffney's, and remembering Daffney's strength I think I had a clue where she inherited from. I had to pull Daffney out of the way as the chainsaw wielding Taken draws near, she was too shocked to do anything. We all trained our flashlights at the Taken, its dark shroud had so many layers of darkness that it took a couple of minutes just to remove it. I pulled out a flare and lit it, repelling the Taken back.

When its dark shroud vanished, we began to gun the Taken down. Though it was difficult, it died without harming anyone. Since this Taken was Daffney's dad, she cried into Tooter's shoulder for a brief moment. I managed to find another DVD, stuck onto the frame of Daffney's front door. When I went over to get it, something blocked the front door with a bookself from the inside.

I managed to grab the DVD and tuck it into my backpack just as Daffney quickly cheered up, then we continued on our way through the neighborhood. "I'm sorry about your dad Daffney." he said.

"Let's just get this over with." ranted Daffney.

After we left the neighborhood, we encountered more Taken. AllStar threw a lit flare into the crowd of Taken for some reason and the flare stripped off the darkness off of them, making it possible to kill them with conventional weapons. "I have to say that is one thing I never tried," I comment, "Use a flare as a grenade."

"Someone has to do it sooner or later." said AllStar.

Suddenly my phone rang and I answered it, it was a text message from Billy Bob saying to hurry up. His situation over at the police station must be getting desperate, so I had to change some plans. "I think Billy Bob will meet with us soon," I said, "When he comes around, we find the Silver Fish and use it to get to the dark puddle faster."

"I think I had moved the Silver Fish somewhere near the Recycling Plant," said Dr. Gallio, "I had the thought of getting it scrapped since no one was using it anymore, but I never got around to it."

"How do you know about the Silver Fish?" asked AllStar.

"Research AllStar," I said, "The Snorkland Library sure like to keep record of your accomplishments."

The Snorkland Recycling Plant had been designed by me and was built by feral snorks, a robotic snork name Gizmo works at the Recycling Plant. I had built Gizmo myself, which was a real pain in the ass to do since I must have it look and behave like a regular snork. The project however was a success and Gizmo managed to live a normal happy life at the end, until tonight.

As we continue downtown, I thought I saw something up on the rooftops. I tried to shine my flashlight on it but it kept squirming away, it must be a Taken. Just as we get to a point where the buildings were just a stone's through away from each other, I saw the Taken jump across the gap to the other building. Everything seemed to have slowed down, giving me a brief moment on getting a good look at the stalker. It was Junior.

"I'm now 100 percent sure that Junior is stalking us," I said finally, "There's no other way that would be someone else."

"Have you voted YET?" we heard Junior blabbered, "I hope you VOTE FOR ME!"

Just as we reached another road, the currents and shadows began to move once more. Then the Taken began to appear out of nowhere, this time they were feral snorks. "We make trespassers one of us!" one of them blurted out.

They were throwing a lot of stuff at us, I'm surprised we managed to dodge it all. We used our flashlights and pushed back the Taken, and we managed to eliminate them quickly. That's when I saw someone come swimming fast down the road, it looked like a feral snork not yet possessed. When he got closer, we saw that it was Billy Bob, and he was holding SmallStar in his arms. "Hey's guys!" he called out, "I was overruned. Don't worry, I got a good portion of Snorkland warned."

Suddenly a nearby car was possessed by the Dark Presence, just as Billy Bob stopped to take a rest. It rose up into the air and began twitching and groaning, "Billy Bob!" I called out, "Poltergeist!"

We watch as Billy Bob spot the possessed car, with SmallStar in his arms he swam towards a nearby store and sped right in as the poltergeist hurled itself at them. "SmallStar!" cried Mrs. Seaworthy.

"Don't worry mom," said AllStar, "They've made it inside."

"We can meet up with them at the next block," said Chief Robinson, "These buildings are interconnected with each other, they would have to make their way through the stores in order to get out."

"If Billy Bob can't find the exit," I said, "He'll make his own way out."

"Great," said Chief Robinson, "Collateral damage."

We head down the road where Billy Bob was swimming down on, and we saw the Taken appear out of the darkness beyond, they were more possessed feral snorks. "The Outback belongs to the Seaworthy Twins!" one of them blurted, "You are not authorized to be in the Seaworthy nuclear power plant, use of deadly force has been authorized."

Has the Dark Presence attacked my nuclear power plant? I thought.

We battled the Taken and obliterated them with ease, "For crazed loons, these feral snorks of yours seemed smarter than they appear." said Chief Robinson.

"Their wills were damaged by Governor Wetworth," I explained, "They saw me as a hero for restarting their lives, so they devoted themselves to my service for life. So their free wills weren't entirely repaired in a sense. Billy Bob Wetworth is by far the only feral snork whose devotion was the strongest, and so led to our friendship. He's the only B.F.F. outside the Seaworthy family I had ever had, and never will again."

"How old is he exactly?" asked AllStar.

"He's actually 43 years of age."

"How old are you?" asked Chief Robinson.

"My chromosomal age is at least 9 months," I explain, "But my physical age is in synch with AllStar's age, which is 16. My birth is messed up, its a long story to explain."

"I've read your autobiographies Radio," announced Chief Robinson, "I know a whole lot about you before we met."

"You've read me."

"No one has ever dedicated to the Snork race more than you, you also showed us how much of a prick Governor Wetworth really is."

"And you're using my language."

"For someone like you, you sure know how to use words."

We continued down the road and spot a nearby electronic store, selling products I had manufactured in the Outback. "You really helped Snorkland a lot Radio," said Dr. Gallio, "The HDTVs are pretty nice, and I've never seen 3D this advanced in a long time."

"Those were good days," I said, "Back when I was a somebody and not a fraud, I took the money I earned and used it to pay the workers for making the electronics. I never knew how close I was to everyone until Berry had been kidnapped."

"What was your life like at the Outback?" asked Casey.

"Ups and downs, locals are tricky to put up with. After I reach a point where I couldn't come up with new inventions, I went to many parties with my sister. After this, I'm going to have Berry come up with new inventions, assuming that I find her alive."

When we got to the other side of the block, Billy Bob was nowhere to be found. "Where is he?" I asked.

Suddenly a flare shot up towards the surface nearby and explodes, shining a bright green light in all directions. "Over there." said Mr. Seaworthy, "That's probably him!"

We head towards the flare by cutting through a playground and onto another road, there we found ourselves at the front doors of a supermarket. "Oh this supermarket nearly cost me my store," said George, "Until the store got a bad case of barnacle eating away at its support beams."

"You can thank me for that." I said.

"It was you?" asked Chief Robinson.

"The barnacle came from a rock in my backyard, I know how competition is and I decided to help George by removing the thorn from his side."

"If you hadn't done that," said George, "I would be jobless and I wouldn't be able to support my family."

"And you and your family would end up in the Outback," I said, "That's where most of the snorks go when they are jobless, and where they become uncivilized and completely feral. You, your wife, and Casey would find themselves undergo brain surgery before integrating into a culture of hillbilly rednecks."

"Do you do that brain surgery on all the snorks who comes walking into the Outback?" asked Casey.

"No," I said, "Only the feral snorks do that, they knock you out before cutting open your skull and removing a bit of your brain matter. Friend or not, everyone gets the same treatment, sometimes brain surgery isn't necessary as the moonshine and parties will speed up becoming a feral."

"What would you do if I were to become a feral?"

"Being a close friend and all, I'll would find a job that suits you and put you to work. You don't have to work if you don't want to, since its all you do in the Outback. The motto; Work hard, play hard; will ring through your ears until you crack."

"Guys," said Corky, "Are we forgetting something?"

"Oh," I said, "Billy Bob."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

We rushed up to the automatic doors and Jo-Jo muscled them open with his bare hands, with the power out there's no telling what's in store for us inside. Occy and Rex might give us some warning but relying on their senses is a gamble, the smell of darkness probably clogged their noses, if they have any. Despite this, Occy and Rex kept a lookout as we head inside. "To the back," said Corky, "There might be a way to Billy Bob."

Passing through the grocery area nearly made me hungry, luckily the Taken appeared around the corner and snapped me out of it. The Taken here looked like supermarket employees, "You'll get a discount for bringing a coupon." one of them blurted as they held up an ax.

"Clean up in isle 10!" another garbled.

We took out the Taken with ease, since we were well coordinated we managed to move through the isles without getting trapped. Thankfully nobody was in the mood for stealing crap, Chief Robinson wouldn't have any of that anyway. We push through to the back and ran into the storage area of the supermarket and spot a door leading to the back, just as we approach a police Taken bust down the door with a simple kick with its foot. "Did you call 9-1-1?" it asked as it came towards us with an ax.

Suddenly a flash of green light came out of nowhere and hit the Taken, killing it. "Yee Haw!" cheered Billy Bob, "Children of the Atom Bomb, scourge the light upon the dark!"

We all came out into the back and found Billy Bob covered in lights, he had what appears to be white lit christmas lights wrapped around him like a barbarian suit, a powerful head lamp on his forehead, and three snork lights (lights that you attach inside your snork) on each of his three snorks. "What's with the christmas lights?" I asked.

"Protection Radio." said Billy Bob, "Like repelling the Snork Nork."

"Snork Nork." I said sarcastically, "You read too many vampire stories haven't you?"

"With the head lamp, I just look at one of them and they just die. Its incredible."

"I can't believe you are actually 43 years old," said Chief Robinson, "I thought you were in your late teens."

"An old geezer like me can't find work anymore," he said, "I spent 20 years in an asylum and I only have a high school degree, it was horrible."

"You told this damn story about a gazillion times!" I reminded him, "I'm getting tired of hearing it.

SmallStar was sitting on a star cache, Mrs. Seaworthy rushed up to her, picked her up, and gave her a big hug with tears of joy. I shined my flashlight on the rock behind the cache and revealed the 4 pointed star in question, "I keep finding these everywhere," I said, "These caches contain everything you need to get by the night, when the Dark Presence is on the prowl."

"I guess by belt buckle became a symbol of good." said AllStar.

"More than that," I said, "A symbol of the family."

Casey opened up the cache as Jo-Jo looked over her shoulder, "Flare guns," she said, "Lots of them! And ammo too."

"Grab them," I said, "One per snork, 10 rounds per snork."

"Got it Radio." said Daffney.

Everyone grabbed a flare gun and 10 rounds each, Billy Bob handed SmallStar a flashlight for protection, "She'll might need this," said Billy Bob to Mrs. Seaworthy, "Just in case... you know."

"Thanks for the insurance policy." said Mrs. Seaworthy.

"Just doing my job." said Billy Bob, "As a Seaworthy servant."

I looked out into the darkness and saw the elevation drops down slightly, below was a park and beyond that was the Snorkland Recycling Plant. I could see lights on over there, "We gotta cross this park guys," I said, "And we'll reach the Snorkland Recycling Plant in no time."

"Oh finally," said Billy Bob, "I could use a break for once."

We swam down the hillside and reached the edge of the massive park, there seems to be a lot of space to move around. Unlit light poles surround the park, and a gazebo rest within the center. Just half-way across the park, the currents began to move and the shadows move with the water's flow. "Enough!" I heard the Dark Presence say, "You shall go no further, Seaworthy!"

The light poles suddenly burst out of the ground and shot to the surface as a massive black whirlpool shows itself from the supermarket, "Behold!" I said as I pointed to the whirlpool, "The witch's true form!"

Suddenly multiple Taken appeared all over the place, I never seen so many Taken spawning at once. They were a mixture of oridnary snorks, snork fishersnorks, feral snorks, police officers, and utility snorks. All were screaming gibberish at the top of their lungs. "Use the flare guns!" I screamed.

Flares were fired all over the place like crazy, and many Taken were eliminated as fast as they spawn. Some of us began to shoot the flares at the black whirlpool, we heard it roar and squeal with every direct hit. It happened so fast that the whirlpool had to leave the area, once it did the currents and shadows stopped moving. As the last of the Taken were annihilated, we stopped and held our breath for a moment. We listened for any more Taken nearby, after a minute everyone began to cheer victory but not me.

"Forgetting about Junior?" I asked.

"Please," we heard Junior say, "No snorking IN THE AREA!"

We saw Junior appear on top of the gazebo, protected by the most thickest dark shroud to date. A moment later, several more Taken came spawning out of the darkness to back him up, "I'm all out of flare gun ammo!" cried AllStar as he tucked the flare gun into his pocket.

"Me too." said Casey.

"I think we all used them up." said Dr. Gallio.

"Just do it the old fashion way," I said, "Shine your flashlight on them before gunning them down with conventional weapons."

As the Taken came towards us, we killed them one by one. A couple of Taken were wielding chainsaws, and so most of the attention were focused on those brutes. To come to realize it, the Taken were trying to come after me and not my friends. But that's only if I get close enough to them, I wonder if they noticed where the Taken's attention were directed at. After a few more minutes of dodging thrown objects by the Taken, we managed to kill them all with ease.

Now we get to fight Junior, as he jumped down from the gazebo and began to run around at hypersonic speeds. "IT IS AGAINST THE LAW," he blurted as he looped around us, "To deface any public or private property DEDICATED to the GOVERNOR! Such vandalism WILL NOT BE TOLERATED, and will result in BANISHMENT!"

Unlike other Taken who ran around in incredible speeds, Junior was running around in loops and twirls instead of straight lines. He tried to get near me to strike me with his ax, but I dodged rolled out of the way from the blade, causing him to hit the ground. He continued running around in the same confusing pattern as the group tried to focus their lights at him.

Suddenly Junior came up behind Tooter, raised his ax, and slashed Tooter with it as the snork turns around. I heard meat being crunched when I saw the ax fly down into Tooter's shoulder, "Tooter!" I cried.

"Tooter!" cried Mrs. Shelby.

Tooter was laying on his back, blood was pouring out of his shoulder. Luckily he was still alive and kicking, so Junior raised his ax to give him the killing blow. But just before he let the ax fly down again, Tooter had lit a flare and repelled the possessed snork away with its bright light. "Governor Wetworth likes things to be NICE!" screamed Junior, "THAT WAY WE won't have any trouble, and I don't have to PUNISH ANYBODY!"

He tried to run around again, and tried to come after me. But I kicked him back just as he sped towards me, "I'll SNORK YOU, AllWet!" he cursed, reminding me of his hatred towards AllStar.

"Just shut him up!" cried Daffney, "Just shut him up!"

Junior's dark shroud could no longer resist the dozen or so light sources pointed at him, and so it gave it quits, once it flashed off his body we unloaded our weapons upon him. I gave him the final shot, and he burst into static before disappearing into nothing. "That's for taking potshots at me asshole!" I cursed.

"Why does my family have all the dicks?" asked Billy Bob.

We rushed up to Tooter as his mother held his hand, the tooting snork was bleeding heavily as he tries to hold in his tears. "Just hang in there Tooter!" said AllStar, "We'll get you to safety!"

"Just for the record everybody," I said, "If anyone of you become a Taken, I'll shoot you dead. No kid."

Mrs. Shelby picked up his son and carried him the rest of the way towards the Snorkland Recycling Plant, so far no encounters with Taken whatsoever. When we approached the front door, we noticed it was heavily barricaded to the point where no one can climb through. "Gizmo!" I called out to him as I pound on the glass door, "Its me, Radio Seaworthy. Please let us in!"

There was no response, in fact I couldn't even see light inside. So we head to the back where I picked the lock on the back door before getting through, when the door opened we discovered it was pitch black inside. "Come on." I said, "He usually spends most of his time in the basement, SNIP and SNAP often works here for part-time."

As we made our way through the recycling plant, we kept calling for Gizmo to come out. "Gizmo!" called out AllStar, "Where are you?"

The back door suddenly slammed shut, making things more eerie than it seems. Though Billy Bob's light protection helped light the small hallway just find. "I think the Silver Fish is at another corner of the Recycling Plant," I said, "We have to make through the collection room in order to get to it."

I opened a door and revealed the massive collection room in question, the place had scrap metal all over the place and it was completely pitch black. "Ew!" said Daffney in disgust, "Its icky here!"

"At least it doesn't smell." said Casey.

We head over to the corner of the collection room where the door to the Silver Fish is, that's where we find what looked like a slaughter. Sitting at the foot of the door lay bits and pieces of SNIP and SNAP, they appear to be torn to shreds. It took a moment for us to recognize them, due to how horribly cut up they were. "Oh no!" cried Daffney, "SNIP and SNAP!"

"What could have done this?" asked Billy Bob.

I picked up a piece of the robots and examined it, they appear to be serrated and had a cutting pattern to it. You can't make these patterns by a manual hand saw, SNIP and SNAP were made out of a tough metal so something stronger was used to cut them up. Then it came to me as I tossed the piece back into the genocide pile, "A chainsaw." I answered.

Right on cue, a door behind us burst open followed by a sound of a loud chainsaw. We turned around and saw Gizmo welding a large industrial chainsaw, his eyes were dark and his body was covered in a thick dark shroud. "Keep it clean," he muttered, "BY GOING GREEN!"

Daffney screamed at the top of her lungs, or gills, as we aimed our flashlights at Gizmo. Even though we had a lot of lights trained at him, he continues to push through as he shields his eyes with his arm. Making things more scarier than it seem. "DON'T WAIST THE MATERIAL!" blabbered Gizmo, "Everything can be reused!"

With that chainsaw coming closer, it caused Daffney to start firing her gun at Gizmo in a state of panic. This made Gizmo slip into a berserker rage and charge at us, as he rips his chainsaw. Someone yelped when Gizmo was just about to be in our face, but I pulled out a flare in time and force Gizmo back with its light. Finally his dark shroud flashed off and we gunned him down. It took a lot of bullets to kill him, as he puts up one hell of a resistance. It just so happens that his chainsaw quit working on him, and he spend some time just to restart the tool awhile ignoring the bullets pelting his body.

Finally a single bullet killed him just as he got his chainsaw running again. Gizmo's body burst into static before disappearing into nothing, ending the fight. "I can't take this anymore!" screamed Daffney, "I'm scared out of my snork and I wanna go home!"

Billy Bob slapped Daffney in the face in response, she quickly blinked twice as she exhales, "Thanks," she said rationally, "I needed that."

With that over, we opened the door and passed SNIP and SNAP's remains, there we saw the Silver Fish ready to go at a moments notice. "Finally," said Billy Bob in relief, "Lets see if this old girl can run."

"Oh she'll run," said Dr. Gallio, "She'll run."

The Silver Fish was underneath 3 bright lights that bathed the submarine with its glow, protecting it from the Dark Presence's hand. I shined my flashlight at the walls of the room and saw the message, "In the light you can hurt them, in the light you are safe," written about 2,000 times. Not a single corner of every wall in the massive room was left untouched, whoever written this had a lot of time on his hands.

The ceiling appeared to be massive bay doors, if we could get those doors to open we might get the Silver Fish out of here without destroying anything. AllStar managed to get the hatch of the submarine open and we climbed inside as Occy and Rex helped Mrs. Shelby carry Tooter aboard, the snork had lost a lot of blood and he struggles to maintain consciousness. "Guys," said Billy Bob, "I think Tooter is screwed."

"What?" asked Daffney in shock.

Billy Bob held up a disk, on the disk says "Tooter Taken," on it. After staring at the disk for a brief second, Mrs. Shelby broke down into tears. "Mrs. Shelby," said Billy Bob as he approached her and put his hand on her shoulder, "It is best not to show negative emotions, it will make Tooter feel worse."

Mrs. Shelby looked at him and nod, and so had Mr. Shelby hugged her to give her confort. As she buries her face into his shoulder, I let out a sigh. Why does death have to destroy? I thought.

"Is there something wrong Radio?" asked AllStar.

I looked at AllStar as he sat down on a nearby bench, so I decided to take a seat next to him and explain my thoughts. "I wonder if I'm ever going to see my sister again," I said, "Either alive or her corpse, I'm just not sure if she could be found at all."

"We made this journey so we could save her."

"At what price?"

I glanced over at Tooter as he lay on a cot, his mom held his hand to comfort him. The way she held her son's hand dawned on me, and I suddenly had a star-bright idea as AllStar would call it. "Maybe I could reverse this," I announce, "After running in the dark for nights I now have a plan."

"What's the plan?" asked Casey.

"We rescue Berry for an insurance policy," I said, "Just in case I fail to get back to the machine and reverse this, we at least have another chance at ending the nightmare completely."

"You're going to go at this alone?" asked AllStar.

"Right after we rescue Berry, "I said, "If Junior was here, he would say she could be dead. I just want to be sure if she's either dead or alive, if she's alive then she'll be my backup."

"I really like Berry," said Daffney, "Its just hard to negotiate her personality though."

"Her personality is my personality," I noted, "Even though she's a girl, doesn't mean she have to obey the rules."

"I wonder who made the sink-bomb in my house then," said AllStar, "Cause she was at my house hours before it happened."

"Oh that was Rex." I answered.

Rex gave me a "Oh you have to tell them," look from hearing me snitch. Everyone simply laughed at the look at his face, this made Rex laughed as well.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

"We gotta get the bay doors open," said AllStar as he gets behind the controls of the submarine, "But I don't know where the switch for it is."

"I know where it is," I said, "I designed this place myself."

"Where is the switch?" asked Casey.

"Right near the door we just came through." I said as I pointed out the front windows of the Silver Fish and revealed the switch. "I'll do it."

The hatch happened to be still open, so I swam out of the hatch and head over to the front door. I pressed the button and the top bay doors began to open, "We're ready Radio," said AllStar on the bullhorn, "Hurry back inside."

I swam up to the top of the Silver Fish just as the lights protecting it pops, I rushed back inside the Silver Fish and shut the hatch behind me. "Start her up." I calmly say.

AllStar tried to start it, but only hears the ignition spin. But when he tried again a second time, the engine roared to life. That's when music began playing, and I recognized the tune as the song me and Billy Bob listened to back at the farmlands. "Children of the Atom Bomb," cheered Billy Bob, "Scourge the light upon the dark!"

"Shut up Billy," I laughed, "You're already nuts as it is."

"You know this song Radio?" asked AllStar.

"Long story," I say, "Just drive."

The bay doors opened up and AllStar gets the Silver Fish out of the Recycling Plant, we then head straight south as we listened to the song as it plays, thankfully Billy Bob wasn't singing along to the music. As we head south, I began to wonder what will happen once the nightmare ends. Could I bring the snorks who were taken by the Dark Presence back? Will Berry will be the Berry I remembered? Will anyone forgive me once word gets out that I'm responsible?

The events that happened continue to play in my head, they continue to ring through my ears like tinnitus. As I guide AllStar through the darkness, he turned on the headlights, only to discover how powerful the lights were. "I don't remember the lights being this powerful." said Dr. Gallio, "They must have been weaponised."

"By who?" I wonder, "Who was placing these disks in my path, who was leaving behind star caches for us to find, who was writing graffiti out of light-sensitive paint all over the place?"

"Looks like someone was trying to get a few steps ahead of you," said Chief Robinson, "Just to prepare you for the fights."

"Possible." I said.

I turned on the Silver Fish's stereo and tuned it to the news, "Well its one of those beautiful nights again," said the DJ, "I just stepped out for a moment and noticed how quiet Snorkland was, it felt eerie for some reason, maybe its because of the power outage or something. Oh look, we got ourselves another caller, let's see if we could put him on the line."

"Okay caller, your on the air."

"Hello?" I heard Willie's voice on there.

"Hey its Willie Wetworth," said the DJ, "Youngest son of Governor Wellington Wetworth, how are you doing little fella?"

"I'm scared." said Willie.

"What's wrong Willie?"

"My dad and brother hadn't returned in hours, and I can't find my mom anywhere. I'm all alone in the dark, and its becoming more and more frightening."

"Your all by yourself, no wonder you're up so late. So your dad hasn't been back for awhile, where did he went?"

"He went to the Snorkland Police Station to oversee someone's imprisonment, Junior, my brother, went with him to see it as well. They hadn't been back since 8 and now its almost midnight, my mom seems to have fell off the face of the earth."

"Did you call the police?"

"The police called me, and it happened to be someone I don't know. He claims to be Billy Bob Wetworth and he told me he is my cousin, I asked him what was happening and he explained to me that Snorkland is in danger. Said about a Dark Presence taking over snorks, it chilled me to the bone when I heard some noises outside. He said to me, 'In order to be safe, you must find a flashlight.' I now have one right here and I asked Billy Bob what to do next but he had to go, saying he has more snorks to warn. I didn't trust him right away, until I heard SmallStar Seaworthy's voice in the background."

"He actually called me a few hours ago, I heard her voice as well. I hadn't thought much of what he had said until I looked outside my window and see snorks moving suspiciously across the area, Billy Bob said that he was placed in charge by Chief Robinson in warning snorks. I hadn't trust him either, but remember seeing that suspicious activity made me wonder if he's true."

"AH! Someone is at the door!"

"Calm down Willie, now who could it be?"

"I don't know but his voice, something is wrong with his voice. I can't see him but he seems to be blabbering gibberish, please help me, please help me!"

"Now did you try calling the police Willie?"

"No one will answer! AH! An ax when through the door!"

Everyone could hear the noise coming from the background of Willie's end, I'm sure the DJ was convinced that Willie wasn't making this up. "Can you see who it is?" asked the DJ.

"It looked like the neighbor but, he doesn't seem to be the neighbor anymore."

"All accidents could be prevented!" we heard a Taken garbled faintly from the radio.

"HELP! HELP!" cried Willie, "AHH-"

Suddenly the call ended, we heard a ringing tone that replaced Willie's cries for help. Casey gasped from hearing Willie's little cries from the radio. Daffney tried not to tear as everyone's parents hide their sorrow, hearing a snork child utter out its last words before sudden death is something that anyone doesn't want to hear. "Hello?" asked the DJ who didn't understand what just happened, "Something's not right here, if you're a police officer listening to this you might wanna check over to the Wetworth's house, just to see if Willie's okay."

"F#ck this!" I cursed as I pulled out my phone, I just so happened to know the radio station's number. I dialed it and wait for the DJ to come on.

"We got ourselves another caller," said the DJ, "Hello caller, you're on the air."

"This is Radioactive Seaworthy." I replied.

"Radio?" asked the DJ excitedly, "That's really you!"

"Yes its me," I said.

"I'm a big fan of your work, my station's equipment was made by your company. So what you're here for?"

"I was just happening to be listening to your station and decided to call once Willie was cut off."

"Oh, do you know what's happening?"

"In fine detail."

"Okay, go on."

"There is this terrible evil about to take over Snorkland, and it just so happen that I'm in the center of everything."

"You are?"

"This entity is called the Dark Presence, it took many snorks, and also took my sister."

"I'm sorry to hear that, in fact you said something about a Dark Presence? It sounded like the Great Snork Nork is up to no good again."

"The Dark Presence stabbed him in the back, I saw it with my own eyes. Bigweed is also gone, and so is my Great Uncle Strangesnork Seaworthy."

"Wow, when did this happen?"

"About a few nights ago, have you heard of me on the news about the police giving chase to me?"

"Yes I did, and the Governor seemed eager to capture you. I never liked him anyway, no offense if he hear's this."

"I don't think he'll mind, he's probably dead."

"What?"

"The Dark Presence dragged him into the night, right before he tried to kill me."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. Explain to me what happened first cause this is all so sudden."

"The Dark Presence was after me, it needed my mind. And so it kidnapped Berry, my sister, and dangled her in front of me just to get me to do its bidding, it had me create a machine where it writes the future. The Dark Presence said it will bring Berry back. Guess what? The witch lied."

"So you've built a machine that writes the future?"

"These DVDs inside of orange cases speaks of the events that will happen, I made them under the Dark Presence's control. They had been seemingly placed in my path, by someone, or something."

"This sounds like you have been through a lot Radio, I don't know what to say about this?"

"If you see a friend of yours coming after you with an ax with darkness in his eyes, that's pretty much what I'm dealing with. Willie had probably meet one of the Dark Presence's slaves, and had suffered his demise."

"Who are these slaves?"

"The Taken, collection of snorks and inanimate objects possessed by the Dark Presence. They cannot be saved and are a threat, only light can hurt them. My friend Billy Bob probably made that clear to you, right?"

"He did, so what are you doing at the moment."

"Trying to save my sister with a handful of friends and their parents, we have a snork who's near death here. His name is Tooter Shelby, age 17. He was struck by an ax from Junior, who happens to be possessed by the Dark Presence. I know not where the Governor is and I'm in no mood to go looking for him."

"Seems that the odds are against you."

"Correct, and the odds are still stacking."

"Is Tooter okay back there?"

"He's on his last legs, he's not going to make it."

"Do you have a doctor with you?"

"Yes, Dr. Gallio Seaworthy, but there isn't much he could do now. All we could do is hope for the best."

"I pray to Neptune that you have a great journey, if there's anything you need from me let me know."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye Radio."

I hang up the phone and the DJ continued to speak, "Well that was totally unsuspected, here's a little song made by Tooter Shelby's band. I haven't quite remembered what its called, but this will keep you going throughout the night."

We began to hear a song that Tooter had participated into making it, it sounded lovely with the horn noises he was making. It had rhythm, I wonder who else had the ability to toot like Tooter. Tadah might, but...

"What is that Radio?" asked AllStar.

I looked out the front windows and saw what AllStar stumbled upon, its exactly what I was looking for. "We're here." I announced.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

We had found the puddle of liquid darkness, it was just as I remembered when Berry vanished. Nothing had changed except the darkness was emanating from the pool, like the Taken's shadowy armor. I had AllStar parked the Silver Fish and we came to a stop just 20 cm from the pool, then the submarine descend and lands in the sand. I soon got up and grabbed a long strong rope off of a nearby shelf, "Let's get out," I said, "There's just one more thing you guys must do."

"What do we need to do?" asked AllStar.

"I'll tell you once we get out." I replied, "Cause it's mad."

I opened the hatch and swam out of the Silver Fish as my fellow snorks followed me out, all except Tooter who had to rest due to his injury. I tied one end of the rope to a handle on the submarine's bow and tied the other end around my torso. The look on AllStar's face indicate that he knows what I was planning. "You're serious." he says, he definitely caught on.

"Its the only way," I said, "I don't know how deep the pool goes so you might want to to lower me further down, when I tug on the rope twice you pull me up. Okay?"

"Got it Radio," said AllStar, "But what if you become a Taken once you come back out?"

"Kill me," I instructed, "Don't hesitate, just get the job done or you'll be dead."

AllStar gave me a hug, "Please make it quick." he says.

He lets go of me and I approached the liquid darkness puddle, armed with a Heavy Duty lantern flashlight in my hand, I think I'm pretty much ready for this, "Here's to sanity." I said.

I took a deep breath and jumped into the pool, when I did everything became pitch black and silent. The only thing I can see what the bright light glowing from my flashlight, the only thing I can here was my self. Being in that pool feels like gravity was turned off and reality non-existent.

Using my instincts, I head straight down as far as possible. I didn't know what I'll find, so I was personally scared out of my mind more than any bad moment in my life. Many questions were running through my mind. Will I find Berry? Is she alive? Is she dead? Is she a... Taken? I tried not to think of them, I know this was the only chance I'll ever get on saving Berry.

I shined my flashlight straight down, and there she was. Berry appeared to be laying on her back, with her arms stretched out. She appeared to be sleeping off an alcohol buzz or some other substance. Berry was at peace during all this time, I felt my long-lost strength return with vengeance. I swam down to her and grabbed her hand, waking her.

Berry's eyes opened, and they were pointing straight at me. She began to struggle, probably because she had no idea where she is, all this could be a dream to her. I tamed her by stroking her hair with my other hand, being careful not to hit her with my massive flashlight. She calms down, and so hugs me tightly. I reached for the rope that I had tied to myself and tugged it twice, and up we go.

I held onto Berry as we ascend up to a bright light above us, the higher we go the more my moral returns. Once we're there, everything went white for a brief moment. We soon poked our heads out of the tar pool, and struggled to climb out of it. The pool was trying to suck us back in, it felt like quicksand. Luckily my friends and their parents had a firm grip on the rope and pulled with all their might. Me and Berry were soon out of the tar pool, and the mission was accomplished.

My sister began to cough out the tar she breathed in, "What happened?" she asked worriedly, "Radio? What is going on?"

"A nightmare," I said, "I just save you from the worst of it."

Me and Berry stood up and hugged, as if on cue, the Taken appeared out of the darkness with axes ready. They were coming straight for us, but we just stood there. "Look out!" cried Daffney.

I pulled out a flare and lit it. I held it up high like a symbol of good and it repelled the Taken to a comfortable distance, the light also removed the tar off me and my sister's clothes. They were being vaporized by the light, and we were soon free from the stuff. The pool that started our nightmare burst into static and vanished, it now only exists as a memory.

The light from my flare dies and I tossed it aside, I looked around for the Taken but they seemed to had vanished. Rex rushed up to Berry and began to lick her face. She laughed, as she passed the genetically-engineered octopus aside. Suddenly she collapsed, but I caught here just in time.

A week and a half from being in a coma had took its toll on Berry, she could hardly walk, let alone swim. We helped her inside the Silver Fish, when she got in and saw Tooter laying on the cot, she went hysterical. "Tooter!" she cried, "Oh my god! Tooter!"

"Ahuahwa." Tooter muttered gibberish, "Burrrt."

"Junior did this," translated Daffney, "Chopped him with an ax like a mad snork."

Berry broke from our grasp and rushed over to Tooter, but Tooter simply pushed her away with his hand. "Honk." he chuckled with a smile on his face.

"Why?" asked Berry.

"Cause it wasn't Junior anymore," I explained, "It was a monster."

"Please explain to me what had happened." demanded Berry.

I told Berry everything as everyone else backed me up with their sides of the story, I never seen Berry so attentive before as she was not surprised, just terrified. "An entity kidnapped you in order to get to me," I said, "I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark like that Berry, I'm really am."

"Rex was with us." said Berry.

"He ran off from seeing the Dark Presence," I said, "He hide out with AllStar until I picked him up a week later."

"I don't know what to say, I was just trying to encourage you to make a new invention and we were suddenly separated."

"To tell you the truth, I finally made one."

"You did?"

"A machine that can write the future, encoding the events that will happen onto compact disks. I made them awhile thinking I would might rescue you, but that was a lie, thankfully a malfunction in the machine saved me from making the last disk."

"What do we do now?"

"I have to get back to the machine and make the last disk, and I must do this alone. If I fail, you can follow in my footsteps for a second shot at this. That's the plan Berry."

She went silent for a brief moment, "Will I ever see you again?" she finally asked.

"Judging how I came close of loosing you," I said, "The odds are against me. I could be ripped in two for all I know."

Suddenly the ground shook, followed my a roar. "The Dark Presence is near," I said, "And its mad."

The Silver Fish was knocked by an object with high velocity, then it began to rock back and forth. "Out!" cried Corky, "Everybody out!"

We scrambled out of the Silver Fish through the side door, Jo-Jo kicked it open and we all jumped out of it. There we discover a small boulder sitting particularity close to the submarine, underneath a dent that it probably made. Once we were out, the lights inside the Silver Fish went out and we heard Tooter scream. "Tooter!" cried Mr. Shelby.

The Dark Presence had possessed the sub, shadows were bleeding from the chassis on every corner. That's when the Taken showed themselves, and so the fight begins. "Fishing requires a fishing license." said a fishing Taken.

Billy Bob tossed Berry a flashlight and a gun, "Use the light before you use the gun." he says.

Berry shined the flashlight at the Taken as they came near, when their darkness armor flashed off she gunned them down as efficiently as possible. After she made a kill and witness the body disappearing, she asked, "Why do you have to make things so weird Radio?"

"Uhh..." I muttered.

"Well that answers pretty much everything." said Berry sarcastically.

She ducked as a wrench flew past her head, it landed just a few centimeters nearby. As everyone held the Taken back, Rex and Occy tried to steer clear from most of the fighting. "How long will they keep coming?" asked AllStar.

"As long as they keep coming," I said, "We just got started and now you're complaining."

"I'm not complaining." claimed AllStar.

"The Dark Presence is throwing everything its got against us, we'll keep fighting till morning if we have too."

"Morning?" asked Daffney.

"Hey I stayed up for 14 days one time." claimed Berry.

"That was a bet Berry," I said, "And you fell asleep on the third day."

"I only wish I win all that money." whined Berry.

"You're going to have a conversation awhile we're fighting for our lives?" asked George.

"Yeah, pretty much." I said, "This fight might take awhile, you know."

"If it came out of a Seaworthy," said Billy Bob, "They'll have its say."

"Don't sing goddamn you." I warned.

"Watch out!" called out Chief Robinson.

A possessed stone came flying out of nowhere and cratered itself nearby, nearly hitting Billy Bob in the process. The stone lifts itself up in the air and began to twitch wildly, I aimed my flashlight at it and I managed to kill it. "You're okay Billy Bob?" I asked

"Never better," said Billy Bob, "I don't think the christmas lights are working."

"You're lighting up the place with them, how can it not work?"

"I don't know."

Mrs. Seaworthy came running towards the octopuses and left SmallStar with them before rejoining the fight, Rex and Occy used their bodies to shelter the toddler as she point her flashlight at the nearby Taken. This time, feral snork Taken appeared. "The Outback belongs to Seaworthy!" one of them blurted.

"I see you!" another blurted.

We held back the feral snork Taken wave with ease, even fighting against a couple of Taken wielding chainsaws. And now we've reached the point where the boss "should" show, nobody know it yet until they saw Tooter climb on top of the Silver Fish.

They all looked up and saw Tooter standing there with an ax, the shadows clung to his body just as fierce as his weapon. He jumped down, screaming gibberish as he lands. "Tooter!" cried Daffney.

"Tooter! No!" cried Mr. Shelby, "Honk."

For as I could tell, Tooter began to run around at incredible speeds, which of course makes it difficult to focus a flashlight on him. As he ran around, he was making both tooting noises and Taken gibberish. As if that wasn't frightening enough, his dark shroud regenerates when damaged by light. I sense the moral among the group decreased by Tooter, so I decided to attack him head on.

Using my snork, I'm able to match his speed and kept a constant light on him. Moving as fast as hypersonic Taken seem to be similar to my speedy getaways in the past, sure enough Tooter's protective darkness was eliminated. This stopped him from running, but not from attack. He charged at me with his ax up high, but I gunned him down with ease. Everyone watches as a final shot put Tooter down, as his body vanishes I felt like I wanna cry. I always liked Tooter, I'll put my emotions about him aside for the time being.

Just few more Taken later, they stopped coming. It was relieving since we were running low on ammo, but that was the least of our concerns. It just so happens that the sun was rising, within an hour it will light up the ocean. The group gathered around as I sighed, "I must do this alone," I said, "Billy Bob, make sure no one follows me. We have sacrificed enough loved ones already."

"Okay Radio," he said, "Its nice knowing you, I'll never forget that moment you restarted my life."

"We're snorks," I said, "What are friends for? But hey, this situation is something nobody can win for me. So that's why I'm gonna go back to the machine, and fix all this. All of you head back to Snorkland and try to keep order, I don't want to come back to a wasteland once this nightmare is over."

Billy Bob gave me a hug, then it became a group hug. Once everyone released their grip, I seemed ready to go. "Radio," said AllStar, "I'm proud to be your father."

"Take care of Berry and Rex awhile I'm gone," I said, "They're so much trouble as they worth."

Rex suddenly gave me a hug, and I patted him on the head. "I wish I could take you with me," I said, "But you must stay here, I'm sure Occy would like another roommate."

Occy shook his head slowly, citing the problems he had with Rex in the past. "Well I guess I'll see you later," I finally say, "You'll know when I succeed, I'll make sure you sense it."

With that, I turned around and swam south, heading off to the horizon and beyond. My friends and family waved goodbye to me as I leave, "Goodbye Radio!" I heard Dr. Gallio call out.

"I'm sorry about the Governor being mean to you!" called out Chief Robinson, "I hope we can be friends after this."

"You're already my friend." I called back.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

The ocean was beautiful, I gazed at its beauty as I swim down the road. This water world I call home feels alien somehow, as if I don't belong here. Maybe snork society wasn't able to accept me, or I wasn't able to accept it. The world was somehow sending me a powerful message, make the best of your life. It was easy for me to see why since I was gifted with a unique brain, and being the most intelligent of my species.

The masses wanted to study me, capture me, use me for their own purposes, they are very persistent but I managed to prevail in the end. However, this time victory will lead to my demise as failure makes it even more worse. My existence was nothing more than a blink of an eye to reality, so that makes my influence instantaneously. Thinking of this made me wonder if I would become a myth to future generations, chances are that would be a possibility.

With Berry safe, I can now focus on destroying the Dark Presence. The day allowed me to cover a lot of ocean floor without being harassed by the Taken, I soon found a car on the side of the road and used it to continue towards the warehouse where the machine lie. After a few minutes of driving, I came up to a tunnel and found it blocked off by abandoned vehicles. I was forced to stop the car and get out, I guess I'm continuing the rest of the way on foot.

When I stepped into the tunnel, I felt the Dark Presence nearby. Just as I reach the halfway point of the tunnel, everything went white. When I came to, it was night again and the Taken was at the other side of the tunnel, waiting for me. I found myself holding my Heavy-Duty Lantern Flashlight and my Standard Infantry Rifle, so I used them against the Taken.

There were only three Taken, so it was easy to eliminate them. Flashes of light and static ensure that their deaths quickly, when they were gone I continued down the road and found a car underneath the glow of a street lamp. Nice to see you too." I said to it as I got into the vehicle.

I started up the automobile and continued down the road, since it was now night driving down the road feels like being in an out of control rocket. At least there weren't any Taken in the roads, that seemed to be a good sign that the Dark Presence was running low on resources. I wonder if I would get to the warehouse with little trouble, I was wrong.

Just as I made a turn around a curb, I wound up hitting something. No, someone. It wasn't a Taken, or else it'll disappear upon impact. I stomped on the breaks in reacting to the impact, my headlights soon revealed a snork lying on his back. I realized that I ran him over, and I saw him too late. I set the car's gear shift in park before getting out, I rushed up to the downed snork and checked for a pulse.

He was dead.

I was overcome with remorse, the fact that I killed a snork without intending it stung me to the core. But I soon snapped out of it when I examined the snork's body, I was surprised at what I saw. He looked like the snork who was killed by a Taken, which was the same snork who I saw in the prison cell at the police station. No, he was dead, he was suppose to be dead. How?

As I was puzzled, the lights from my vehicle went out. I turned and saw no one in the driver seat, saw nothing there. When I returned my attention back to the snork, I was hit with surprise. His body was gone, no trace of him anywhere. I got up to my feet and decided to make the rest of the way on foot, so I ran. As I came over an edge of the cliff, I can see the warehouse down below.

I'm almost there, just a few more meters to go. I decided to look back at the car, and was ambushed by a Taken. I didn't see it coming, have no time to react, and so the ax came flying down and struck me on my side. The kinetic energy of the ax pushed me down the hill of the road, and I tumble down towards the bottom grunting along the way. When I reached the bottom, I held up my hand and saw my own blood soaking it. I looked down and saw a gash at the side of my torso, I just had my hand there.

The Dark Presence had send me a message, it was willing to fight me to the end. By knowing that the wound was there, pain struck me as my muscles tighten from shock. I stumbled to my feet and looked back up the hill, the Taken was still there, just staring at me. "You don't recognize me, do you Seaworthy?" it spoke to me, "You think you're GOD? Create stuff out of NATURAL MATERIAL? You are a lousy inventor, retard! And I'm going to kill you!"

I took off running, since I left my flashlight and gun back in the car I see every reason why he would call me dumb people names. What really shocked me was that he was the only Taken who reasoned with me, maybe even has rational thoughts. I soon recognized that it was the snork I ran over, I never knew he would play such a role at the end after just a couple of neutral minor appearances.

"YOU'RE A JOKE!" he continued to curse at me, speaking demonic tones and normal snork tones, "You weren't supposed to exist! NUCLEAR WASTE, no one believes that SNORK!"

I continue to swim for my life, panting wildly. I was thinking he was chasing me, ready to swing his ax at me again that was already stained with my blood. I spot a nearby outdoor lamp, giving off a pleasant glow. With all my might, I shot towards the light and dove underneath it. Once underneath the light, I lie there thinking to myself if I could make it. I looked down at myself again, I was still bleeding badly. Blood was oozing everywhere, staining the ground and the water I breathe. Its going to attract predators, maybe a snork-eater.

Realizing I'm now running on a clock, I quickly got up and rushed straight for the warehouse. As I do so, the currents began to pick up and the shadows began to move once more, I must make this quick.

When I reached the warehouse, random junk came alive and began to over over the ocean floor, twitching madly. I dodged them as they hurl themselves at me, I tried to reach for the front door but it was quickly possessed by the Dark Presence. No, I'm not letting that stop me. I swam around the warehouse and discover a broken window, and I went straight towards it. As I swam right through, a poltergeist vehicle sealed the way out.

Nearby, I saw a generator hooked up to a lamp. I rushed up to it and tried my best to get it to start, I could hear the nearby objects inside the warehouse with me stirring. With one final pull of the ignition cord, the generator roared to life and made the lamp glow brightly. Not only did it lit up the lamp, it lit up other lights in the warehouse as well. Nearby lightbulbs and tubular florescent lamps that were crudely wired into a circuit with the generator gave off powerful light, it lit up the room to the point where the poltergeists burst into static before disappearing.

Everything went silent, except for the currents outside. Now safe in the light, I went to work on the machine in question. I approach the black refrigerator-sized machine, simply examining it. It looks perfectly fine, despite the malfunction in all. I flicked the on switch and it booted up, it sounded like an old portable computer, maybe that's what I made it out of.

I saw the welcome screen as a four-pointed star was smack dab in the middle of it, well that's reassuring. Once the terminal of the machine pops up, I set to work on programing a new CD. I put down the events that will follow suit, eliminating the Dark Presence from existence. Once that's done, my friends from the Outback will pick me up and take me back to Snorkland where I will be treated for my wounds. I've also written for all the snorks enslaved by the Dark Presence to be set free, and those who were Taken but killed be brought back to the point before they first encountered the Dark Presence.

It sounded like a risky move, since I know not of free rides for this power. Despite this thought, I pressed the enter button and the machine began to burn the events onto the DVD. After a few seconds, the DVD was spat out of the machine and I grabbed it from the slot. There happened to be a box full of orange CD cases, so I grabbed one and placed the DVD inside it. "Success." I said to myself.

The generator gave out abruptly and the lights went out, I was quickly hit by a large force of an object with made me drop the disk. I tumbled as I was smashed against random objects before being tossed against the wall, I slid down to the floor and wheezed in pain. Stunned of what just happened, I tried to move but I felt stabbing sensations in my chest. I saw my foot had twisted backwards, with my ribcage damaged there's no way I could use my snork to get me out of here. With my foot twisted, there's now ay I could walk out of here. I'm basically crippled, and now lay helpless.

I saw the female snork in the mourning gown approached me from the darkness, I muscled myself upright as she stopped just a 30 centimeters away. "You've left loopholes," she said, waving a finger, "But I've filled them."

Random poltergeist shot up in the air and circled overhead, many Taken spawned out of the darkness and surrounded me from all angles. The snork I had ran over stood next to the witch, just waiting for the word to finish the job. I could see the outline of the Taken's axes clearly from the darkness. "I've left my mark," said the Dark Presence, "I'm now done with you."

I suddenly saw a nearby flare gun just sitting next to me, it was loaded. "You will never see your loved ones again," continued the Dark Presence, "I'm going to cut you up in so many pieces that it would be impossible to have you put back together again, I would do that but that brain of yours is too precious to destroy. So I'm going to divide it, in two."

I grabbed the flare gun and aimed it at the witch, "Children of the Atom Bomb," I said, "Scourge the light upon the dark."

I pulled the trigger and fired a flare straight into the witch's face, the bright light of the flare killed the Dark Presence and everything under its control. I happened to have ignited something and an explosion propelled a large object towards me and landed where the witch once stood. Seeing them all vaporize in slow motion felt like my greatest moment, since it was the most inspiring moment I have yet witness.

The explosion had ripped a hole in the roof and sunlight poured out of it, it was now day again. The sunlight was actually over me, thankfully the ocean diffused the light to make it more bearable. Relieved and victorious, I soon passed out from blood loss.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

I woke up feeling pain all over, I stirred and found myself in a bed. I heard the sounds of machinery nearby, other than that it was quiet. The smell of the aquasphere tells me I'm in Dr. Gallio's lab, and there were other snorks nearby. I opened my eyes and found myself staring up at a light fixture that was turned off, "He's awake!" I heard Berry cry.

"Radio!" cried AllStar.

I saw AllStar, Casey, Daffney, and Jo-Jo approach. Dr. Gallio was a bit lazy when he came walking into the room, "Oh good," he said cheerfully, "You're awake."

"How do you feel Radio?" I heard Berry say.

I turned and saw Berry standing next to me, rubbing my snork. "I feel rational," I said, "With clear thoughts and everything, just rational. Which is strange."

"The feral snorks found you in that warehouse," said Berry, "They brought you here and Dr. Gallio treated your injuries, but we forgotten about your, I mean our, ability to regenerate quickly."

Indeed, I looked under the covers and found myself wearing only my underwear. There were no signs of any wounds whatsoever, but I feel sore all over. "Despite being rational in all," I said as I resnuggle into the blanket, "I feel sore in every part of my body."

"You broke many of your bones," said Dr. Gallio, "They all healed in the incorrect position, and so I have to re-break them. Doing it without damaging vital organs however, proves difficult, since your bones are by far the strongest I have ever come up against."

"It was difficult for me to break bone," said Jo-Jo, "Needed sledgehammer and bit of metal to get job done."

"Your ribs however healed in the correct position," said Dr. Gallio, "Your ankle however could be difficult to walk on since it was twisted, I just can't stop staring how unique your foot is. I can do well with 5 fingers on each of your hand but the way your foot spreads out your 4 webbed toes in a 270 degree angle seemed ridiculous.

"I spent some time playing with it," admitted Daffney, "Just spreading them out and folding them back in again."

"They're not easy to walk on," I said, "The joints are quite ridged, you shouldn't have done that."

Daffney held her dead down, I think I've upsetting her.

"You always complain about your feet," said Berry, "You get up in the morning complaining they were sore, about three times a week you complain all the time."

"Do you get foot aches?" asked Radio.

"I do but I don't complain about it."

"I had your feet examined awhile you're out Radio," said Dr. Gallio, "Turns out its not because of having 4 toes, its because they're flat. There should be an arch in the foot, but I just don't see one."

"So that's what was the problem," I said, "My toes are fine, but the area where they all connect were taking the most abuse."

"Walking on the joints are not good for you," said Dr. Gallio, "You should wear special shoes to treat this problem."

"Where can I get more doctors like you Gallio?" I asked.

Someone walked into the lab and approached me, it was Billy Bob. "Billy," I said, "It's great to see you."

"You're finally awake Radio," he said, "You've been out since yesterday."

"What's been happening awhile I was out?"

"I don't know what you had done but you somehow brought the Governor back, he had no memory of what happened that night. It gets better, both Junior and Willie are still missing and he had devoted much of his time searching for them."

"You know that Junior is dead, Billy."

"Oh now I remember, Junior was a Taken after all. Should we tell the Governor on what really happened to his children?"

"Apparently Junior doesn't have a body to bury, so the Governor will simply jump into a conclusion and hold all of us responsible."

"Worse case scenario." said Daffney.

"How about this," I said as I made a gesture with my hand, "We go over to the Wetworth Household together and check up on him, I wanna see the look on his face from loosing both of his children."

"Even though the Governor is a dick," said Berry, "This is just too much."

"I agree," I replied, "Lets not prank him, since I don't know how much he remembers about my situation, its best not to open Pandora's box this time. For now though, I'm going to rest and eat, sleep, and fart. I've been doing too much work anyway."

Everyone left me alone after that, AllStar and his friends have school as Berry and Dr. Gallio left for shopping. I slept for part of the day, trying to relax my sore muscles. As I lay there in bed, Rex came by to see me. He just swam up to me and snuggled up to my side, I felt happy from that.

An hour later, Billy Bob returned with news from Snorkland. "Everybody seemed confused from the DJ the other night," he said, "About Willie and you in all, and even more confused when you told the story of what happened. They're seeking answers from you Radio, I hope you have an explanation for this."

"I have something," I said, "But its better than nothing."

Billy Bob left again, by around 3 o clock AllStar, Casey, Daffney, and Jo-Jo returned. By now, I was feeling much better. "AllStar?" I asked, "Have you seen Dimmy, Tooter, and Junior yet?"

"No." he replied.

"I missed Dimmy," said Daffney, sounding depressed, "I missed him so much."

"Tooter..." muttered Casey.

"Just seeing them come at me with an ax in their Taken form," I explained, "Made me wonder if I did the right thing by bringing them back. They weren't them anymore, that's what's worring me. I tried to bring them back but, did I bring back their Taken?"

"Nothing has happened yet," said Jo-Jo, "That's good thing, right?"

"No," I answered, "We have to wait till night, I know it."

I sat up on the bed and woke Rex from his sleep, "I'm better now," I said, "Lets go see Wetworth."

Dr. Gallio and Berry returned and saw all of us grouped together, they sat down a few grocery bags and Berry rushed up to us with excitement, "We're going now?" she asked.

"Yes sister," I said, "We're going now."

"Bye Uncle Gallio," said AllStar.

"I'll see you snorks later." he said.

We all head across Snorkland and passed through several neighborhoods, they were ravaged by the Dark Presence and were seriously damaged. Many snorks were going over the damage, thinking it was caused by an earthquake. Well, the Dark Presence did shift the tectonic plates of the Earth so its easy to think that an earthquake itself caused this alone. But what can't be explained was how in the ocean would vehicles were tossed aside like toys, and how some of the cars got onto roofs of random buildings.

Many snorks were wondering why were so many street lamps with popped lightbulbs, one snork was complaining about it as he was busy changing them. "Earthquake keeping me working, not good for my snork."

When we arrived at the Wetworth Household, we saw that a couple of missing posters with both Junior and Willie's faces on them next to the front door. We also noticed the door itself appeared to be heavily damaged, I soon recall Willie's last words on the radio and how the Taken attacked him. There was a couple of patrol cars in front of the house, I had a thought the police viewed this as a crime scene.

We walked up to the front door and knocked on it, nobody answered. So I simply checked to see if it was locked, and it just so happened that it wasn't. I pushed the door open and saw Chief Robinson interviewing Governor Wetworth as his wife cries next to him, on the floor of the living room was a pool of blood and there were signs of a struggle. "So tell me the last thing you remember again Governor." said Chief Robinson.

"I found myself on the ground outside," he said, "I had no idea what happened nor what I was doing, all I know is that something happened to Junior. I went inside to call the police and saw the blood on the floor, I immediately assumed the worse. In fact, I was busy trying to find Radio and..."

He turned and saw me, but he didn't overreact when he saw that I wasn't smiling. "I heard what happened to Junior and Willie," I said, "Are you okay?"

"For all I know is that my kids might not be okay," said the Governor, "And I see you've finally found your sister."

"I was attacked by an ax murderer," claimed Berry, "Who appeared to be bleeding black blood from every corner of his body, wound up in a hole for a week and a half until Radio found me."

"To the looks of your front door," I said, "You're kids were probably attacked by the same individual, anyone can tell those marks were made by an ax."

"I've heard your rant on that radio station," he said, "This Dark Presence you claim to be responsible."

"We were getting reports of a dark cloud and ax murders," said Chief Robinson, "But only at night."

"Robinson," I asked, "May I speak with you in private outside for a moment?"

"Sure Radio." he said.

We both head outside as everyone else waited inside, after getting out of earshot from the house I started the conversation, "How much does he remember?" I asked.

"He didn't remember anything up to the point before we found you and Billy Bob inside that farmhouse," said Chief Robinson, "He'll never believe a word of what happened to Junior and Willie, I'm just surprised he survived being attacked by the Dark Presence."

"He must had been touched by the Dark Presence," I said, "The only question is why."

"Anyway did you take care of the Dark Presence and that machine you've built?"

"The Dark Presence has been destroyed, and everyone who had been its slave were freed, I even brought back the Taken we've killed such as Junior but, something doesn't feel right."

"Whats wrong this time?"

"The Dark Presence had once again took something from me, I don't know what but it feels missing. All I feel is rationality, not the usual random and silly thoughts I used to have. I feel, lost."

"I'm sure you'll fully recover Radio, thankfully you've restored power back to Snorkland with your nuclear power plant of yours, you helped prevent anarchy as we work to repair the Snorkland Steam Plant."

"I did not give the call to restore power to Snorkland."

"You didn't?"

"Nor do I had the time to, its gotta be Billy Bob."

The front door of the Wetworth home suddenly opened, and Corky stuck his head out of it, "Chief," he said, "You gotta come see this."

We head back inside as Corky held up an orange DVD case, on it said, "97: Willie's Last Moments."

"I think we found something that may reveal what had happened to Willie." he said.

"Where did you find that?" asked Chief Robinson.

"I found it in Willie's room," he said, "It was sitting on the bed. The thing is, it wasn't there a few minutes ago."

Once we're inside, Corky handed the disk to Chief Robinson and showed it to the Governor. "Are you aware of this in any way?" he asked.

"No." said Governor Wetworth, "Wait a minute, that's the same DVD cases we've been finding all over Snorkland."

At least he remembered some things.

"Play it in the DVD player," said the Governor, "I gotta see what's in it."

Chief Robinson took the DVD and stuck it into the DVD player, he turned on the TV and pressed the play button. We all watched as the entire living room of the Wetworth home appeared on the screen as Willie held a phone and a flashlight, he was talking to someone, the DJ from the radio station maybe? The whole place was dark, and the only light there was from Willie's flashlight.

We watched as he noticed something at the front door, an ax head came through it and scared Willie half to death, the ax head was soon removed and the door was kicked open. "All accidents could be prevented!" said a Taken as he came through the door.

"HELP! HELP!" screamed Willie, "Help me!"

He tossed the phone aside and aimed his flashlight at the Taken, the beam of light slowed the Taken down as his dark shroud was being picked away by the flashlight. Nevertheless, the Taken pushed through to Willie and raised up his ax. "NO!" cried Willie as the ax came crashing down on his torso. Willie was still alive, screaming and crying as the Taken chops him 3 more times with his ax.

It was until the Taken's dark shroud was eliminated where he stopped, he stared at Willie for a few seconds as the child lay bleeding on the ground. Then it turned around and left the scene, showing no emotion whatsoever. But it didn't end there, despite the odds Willie got up and tried to make his way out the door, still holding his flashlight in his hand. He was staggering, so hurt that walking became a challenge for him. Willie made it outside, and the video ends there.

Berry hugged me tightly, showing great pity. I was also touched by this, everyone was. Mrs. Wetworth ran out of the room and into the kitchen, crying loudly. "Honey?" said the Governor as he followed her, "He could still be alive!"

After Governor Wetworth left the room, Chief Robinson turn towards me immediately, "You best leave," he said, "Before the Governor goes insane."

"Okay," I said, "Tell him I'm sorry about his loss."

"I will Radio," said Chief Robinson, "I hope for the best that you've made things right."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

Casey managed to get permission from her parents to sleep over at AllStar's house tonight, Daffney also managed to get permission from her mom. Jo-Jo had no trouble, since he doesn't have parents to speak up. I don't really know if he had any folks, but he did come. We all head inside AllStar's house and sat down on the two couches, we hadn't spoke for about a minute, just sat there staring out into space as the steam radiator lights the place with its bright red-orange glow.

"This is where we last meet before the nightmare," I noted, "You think that's ironic."

"Its quite ironic." said Casey.

"Its now dark outside," said Berry, "I think the night is at peace."

"For now," I said, "If our friends are indeed Taken, they're bound to show up sooner or later."

Rex and Occy curled on the couch, they were holding onto each other. They were both father and son, both by relationship and blood. "You think our lives are swiss cheese now?" asked Berry.

"What's swiss cheese?" asked Casey.

"I mean, you feel like your life is full of holes, where what we've valued most are replaced with nothing?"

"I do." she said.

"Dimmy, Tooter," I muttered, "Considered special by us, by their jokes and tooting. But when they were Taken, they used that gift against us, as psychological warfare. As Dimmy was trying to kill me, he continues to blabber out random joke and food advice. Echos from what we once knew him by, just dead nerve twitches from a thing that's no longer alive. I keep hearing his voice in my head, it just won't go away."

"Tooter was similar," said AllStar, "He was tooting and rambling gibberish as he ran around after us."

"You know what's strange?" I asked.

"What?" asked Jo-Jo.

"For all of our friends and enemies who were possessed by the Dark Presence, I was the one who put them down. For Tooter, I killed him in front of his parents. I've shown the DVD depicting Dimmy's demise to his parents, and I showed Dr. Gallio the demise of his brother. I expected horrible backslash from them, from all of you. Since I was the one who made the DVDs and made this happen, I thought you all would just turn against me. But you didn't, not even a little."

"It wasn't your fault," said Casey, "The Dark Presence had you under its spell."

"That's understandable," I said, "But you know little from what really happened, or maybe, fear. The power I have is great, with my free enterprise system in the Outback in all."

"We don't fear you Radio," said AllStar, "I don't really know what goes on your head, but you seemed to understand yourself."

"He's right bro," said Berry, "From all the good times we had, we've inherited AllStar's memories. We started out by his knowledge, and we learn more by reading the minds of those we touch. But every time I read yours, I don't see you, I see something else. Admit it, you can fully understand every single snork in the world except yourself."

"Okay I admit it," I said as I crack a smile, "I've been wondering that since AllStar stuck that screwdriver into the radioactive waste barrel from the human world and cut his hand on the metal, when I was born I was born alone."

"Well I was born from an explosion," said Berry, "Tossed aside and slammed my skull against a corral reef, split it in too. Ever since I've found out about you Radio, I just want to be with you because I knew that you are my brother."

"I wanted to be with you because you remind me of mom in every way."

"Now I understand, you miss mom. I see why you were so close to me now."

Berry wrapped her arm around my shoulder and scooted me closer to her, "You're missing something," she said, "The Radio we know is always happy, silly, and random. But everything is stagnant in you, completely still, and nothing new is coming up."

"You're just noticing that now?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, "I see what you mean by being rational."

"Back at Dr. Gallio's lab," I said, "Where all you left me alone to rest, I try to sleep but I couldn't dream. No matter how hard I try, I couldn't dream. Has the Dark Presence taken my ability to dream, and a piece of my personality, the part where it amplifies my emotions, the part I've inherited from mom."

"The witch took it," said AllStar, "But what did she do to it?"

"She told me she's going to split me in two," I explained, "I didn't understand what she meant."

"Hey guys?" asked Jo-Jo, "What is that?"

Jo-Jo pointed across the room and over to a poorly lit corner of the room, there hovered what looked like a word. It was the word, "Seaworthy," my family name. The word was white and in typewriter format, it just hovered there silently as it emits darkness like the dark shrouds of the Taken. We all got up and approached the word, we just stood there staring at it until I reached out to touch it.

It gave me an electric shock and I quickly pulled my hand away, "How inspiring," I said, "Now how do we get rid of it?"

Suddenly Mr. and Mrs. Seaworthy came downstairs, they were in their pajamas and appeared to have woken up. "What is that?" asked Mr. Seaworthy as he points to the word.

"I don't know," said AllStar, "Don't touch it, it bites."

SmallStar came swimming down the stairs and saw the word for herself, "Shine a light at it," she said, "See what happens."

Suddenly the word, "Flashlight" appeared over at the front door. Unlike the word "Seaworthy" the word "Flashlight" was underneath a ceiling light. I walked up to a nearby light switch and turned it on, the light came on and bathed the word in light. Suddenly it flashed into static and vanished, leaving behind a black metal flashlight. I picked it up and turned it on, it glowed with a bright white light.

"Interesting." I said.

I walked back to the group and approached the word "Seaworthy" and shined the flashlight on it, it gave off the sound of a circular saw for two seconds before bursting into static. And Dr. Strangesnork suddenly appeared. He collapsed onto the floor, AllStar rushed up to him and helped him up. "Uncle Strangesnork?" he asked.

"In the light, you can hurt them." muttered Dr. Strangesnork, "Wait a minute, where am I?"

He stood up and blinked twice, "Radio?" he said, "What just happened?"

"Our family name appeared out of nowhere and shined a light at it," I said, "Then you happened."

"But I was inside my lab," he said, "Bleeding on the floor."

"You were," I said, "But the Dark Presence finished you off, and I brought you back days later. We're just waiting for you to show up is all."

"Well I'm not going outside," said Dr. Strangesnork, "Even with a flashlight, its just too dark. That thing could be out there and-"

"I destroyed it Strangesnork," I interrupted, "But I agree, I'm not going out there either."

"What is happening here?" asked Mrs. Seaworthy.

Suddenly the TV flashed on, we turned in response to the light and were shocked to what we've saw. We saw me on the TV, lying on a white floor covered in injuries. The camera must be up close to my face, since we can't see the room I was in.

"He was shocked!" my doppelganger screamed on the TV, sounding insane and out of control, "Radio saw himself on the TV, with all of his friends! Everything became so surreal to him! He can't figure out what is going on, nor does his own family! All he knows is whatever the Dark Presence had left behind, is out to get him!"

With my doppelganger finished, the TV shuts itself off and all was quiet. "It never ended," I said, "Its only just beginning."

**THE END?**


End file.
